THE KING REVIEWED
“The King” is a documentary about a documentarian driving around America in Elvis’s 1963 Rolls Royce. From iconic area to area, the crew visits celebs and related talking heads to discuss the impact of Elvis Presley. Nothing presented here is that extraordinary, but the subtextual push is forced pretty hard. We get it, guys. Elvis Presley is supposed to be symbolic of America and where things went off the rails.
I get the idea of connecting Elvis to consumer culture. But, outside of a John Hawkes quote…what did you have? The answer is nothing much. If this was treated as a serious look at how America has changed after Elvis died, that would be something cool. As it exists, it’s a well-shot documentary trying to force a focus that doesn’t quite match the material. It happens a lot in modern documentaries. I just don’t get why it happened here.
The film is doing these hit and miss runs around the Arthouse theaters. If you get the chance, check it out.
FILM STATS
- 1 hr and 47 mins
- R
- Oscilloscope
