The King
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Movie Reviews of The King
Movie Review: I loved it
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought this movie was brilliant. I bet a lot of people hated the ending. But I loved it. I've never thought about a movie so much after it was over. It's totally left up to speculation and interpretation. That ending has you on the edge of your seat and them BAM! CreditsMovie Review: The King
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're a fan of Gael Garcia Bernal, then you must see this movie. After renting it several times, I purchased a copy of my own so that I could watch it again and again. The movie is entertaining with a bit of mystery and drama. Gael Garcia Bernal is gorgeous.Movie Review: THE MOST UNDERRATED FILM OF THE YEAR
Summary: 5 Stars
i loved this film. it is incredibly daring, in the vein of "Badlands" its relentless but true to tragedy. it will keep you thinking about it for days to come. Also Gael Garcia Bernal who plays the lead is an amazing actor and the love story will break your heart.Movie Review: Ambitious, But From From Perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
"The King" is a haunting film from the studio that brought us "Down in the Valley" and features Gael Garcia Bernal ('Dot the I') and Oscar Winner William Hurt ('Kiss of the Spider Woman'). "The King" came and went pretty quietly. It got O.K. reviews (although Richard Roeper said that Hurt's performance was one of the best performances you'd see...Odd, since it's far from Hurts best) and slipped quietly onto DVD. It looked promising enough. The cover says "Disturbing" and the premice of the film sounded interesting. It's definitely a weird little movie. Bernal plays Elvis, a young man who is discharged from the Navy and heads to Texas to meet his father David (Hurt, covering up his trademark voice with a Texan accent). David is a pastor and is a borderline "fire & brimstone" kind of guy. He's married now to a woman named Tyla (Laura Harring) and has two kids Malerie (Pell James) and Paul (Paul Dano, 'Little Miss Sunshine'). David feels that Elvis was the product of past sinning and therefore, wants nothing to do with the boy. Elvis kind of moves on, but finds himself falling in love with Malerie. Even though we know it's, technically, incest. It's never really mentioned in the film. After Paul discovers that Elvis has been hanging around with his sister, he threatens to tell David and Elvis kills him. It's quick, shocking, and unexpected. Elvis quickly does what every movie character does; He ditches the body. As David searches for his "lost" son Paul and Malerie finds out that she's pregnant, David finds himself coming to terms with Elvis. The movie eventually throws a curveball and then ends abruptly. I didn't like the ending immediately, thinking "that was cheap." The ending works really well, I think the final line of dialogue sums up the movie pretty well. I've only seen Bernal in one other film, but he's very good here. Other actors could've played this role better, he left some gray areas...But other than that, he's really good. As for Hurt, he's fantastic. As I said, it's not his best performance but it's really good. He gives an Oscar worthy performance, but will probably be forgotten come Oscar time because of how low-key this film was. The movie is a little bit haunting (especially the ending), but I didn't find it disturbing. If you found movies like "Rivers Edge" or "American Beauty" disturbing, you might find this movie disturbing...But, I don't know. I didn't feel disturbed. It's not a masterpiece, but it was worth the watch.
GRADE: B
Movie Review: A Different Look At Family Troubles
Summary: 4 Stars
If you read the summary of THE KING I read before viewing it, you probably expected a heartwarming tale. A young man named Elvis finishes his stint in the Navy and decides to look up his father who abandoned him. The father has since changed his life, married, started a family, and is now a minister. Such a summary promises a conflict or two, but also redemption. Well, I don't want to spoil the experience for potential viewers, but let's just say that when it's on television, it won't be shown on the Hallmark Channel or the Family Channel. It's not a uplifting tale of sin and redemption, but it's still interesting to watch.
The film has its weaknesses, but it also has strengths that make it a gripping tale. Gael Garcia Bernal plays Elvis, the young man in search of his father. He's almost emotionless in the role, but this is intentional. If he pushed for the sympathy vote as the abandoned child or went the psychopath route, the film would be too unbelievable. Bernal keeps us interested in what Elvis' next move will be, and we wonder what is going on in his head but we're never certain. William Hurt plays David Sandow, the minister and family man who is also Elvis' father. Paul Dano of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE fame is the oldest son Paul, the apple of his father's eye who will soon graduate from high school and head to Bible college. Both Hurt and Dano work with the material, but one fault of the film is that we're introduced to some potentially wonderful conflictual situations between father and son (Paul), first son (Elvis) and beloved son (Paul), and conflict between the three, but they never materialize. The most troubling relationship in the film is that of Elvis and Malerie, the Sandow daughter. Malerie is a main character and some central situations revolve around her, but she's also the most fully developed character of the film. Pell James plays the young woman with sympathy and we believe she is conflicted, a young woman who is beginning to realize she's bigger than the life she's living but isn't ready to abandon it just yet.
For me, the best way to describe this film is interesting. It did not have enough conflict to make it engrossing, but it is well acted and the setting make us feel as if we're in the middle of the Bible Belt. I'm not sure if it's a watch again and again type of film, but still it's worthwhile and certainly makes the viewer think.