The King
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DVD Cover Information Actor: Derek Weston, E. Matthew Buckley, Gael García Bernal, Laura Harring, William Hurt Director: James Marsh Brand: Velocity Writer: James Marsh Producer: Edward R. Pressman Producer: Gwynneth Lloyd Producer: James Wilson Producer: John Schmidt Producer: Maureen A. Ryan Writer: Milo Addica DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.77:1 Running Time: 105 minutes DVD Release Date: 2006-10-10 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Model: TF-54715 Studio: Velocity / Thinkfilm |
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Movie Reviews of The King
Movie Review: Days later I still don't know how I feel about this movie
Summary: 3 Stars
3.2 stars. Really odd movie, not quirky as in cute or coy. Elvis (Gael GB) straight out of the navy comes looking for his father whom he has never seen. Father is William Hurt who is now a born-again preacher (which almost makes me want to stop watching) and in his pre-Christian days had sex with Elvis' Latina mother who was apparently a prostitute. Hurt has a daughter and son from his Christian long-term monogamous marriage.
Elvis settles in to the town, gets a job and begins to court his half-sister. She doesn't know Elvis is her half-brother and Elvis seems to just ignore this very crucial fact. It gets steamy and after a time, Mallory is pregnant. Elvis' half-brother is hip to the relationship but still doesn't know the blood connection to Elvis. SPOILER: When the brother comes to the motel to tell Elvis to stay away from his sister, Elvis stabs him and then hides the crime.
THIS is where I felt the movie went off the rails. There was no clue that such savage anger was in the Elvis character. Even in the stabbing scene itself, it felt unreal or surreal or dream-like. I didn't understand the chemistry between Elvis and Mallory--she was a wimpy and totally dull religious girl under the thumb of her autocratic father. And with her innocence and religious background, how easily she succumbed to Elvis. He didn't have to work very hard to seduce her.
With the loss of the son (who is believed to have left home to pursue his own agenda for living his life) Elvis is brought into the fold and Daddy makes a speech before his congregation and tells of his sin with Elvis' birth mother. OK, this is Texas, so a lot has to be forgiven, but it was still too odd and the pieces just didn't fit.
I saw it to the end and the end is interesting--a leave 'em hanging kind of ending. Surely repercussions would abound when Elvis tells Hurt the truth so he can "get right with God." Where oh where in the movie did this conversion happen, when did Elvis begin to care about God? Big missing piece.
It coulda been slam dunk brilliant but it was far less. It lacked some kind of internal coherence and energy so it wasn't propelled forward, it just sort of dribbled along. I think it's interesting that Gael GB and Hurt would choose this film as they both probably have tons of scripts thrown at them and can do just about what they like. So whatever it was that walloped them in their gut and made them say yes to the project, somehow it didn't quite make it to the screen.