Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 22 June 2018
'The King' is guilty of an Elvis crime- excess

By MARK KENNEDY slick imagery and heaps of
Associated Press cash. But, wait. Wasn't this
It's usually a bad sign when supposed to be about El-
critics start questioning your vis?
film before it's even finished. There are also some curious
But director Eugene Jarecki appearances. Dan Rather
had to endure worse. While is shot very cinematically
making the documentary along the skyline of Man-
"The King," he actually got hattan, but adds little.
gruff from a member of his Ethan Hawke has some in-
own film crew. teresting stories about Elvis'
After a car breaks down, time at Sun Records but
Jarecki takes the oppor- they could have been told
tunity to ask the driver of by studio boss Sam Phil-
the truck hauling it to be lips' son, who is weirdly not
fixed what he thinks of the much included.
film so far. The crewman Speaking of Hawke, he's
responds that he's not sure clearly a smart guy but
what Jarecki's intention is what is he doing here? Why
and doesn't really buy the is Alec Baldwin in the Rolls-
tenuous analogy he's de- Royce? Mike Myers? They
veloped so far. Who needs have interesting things to
film critics, huh? This image released by Oscilloscope Laboratories shows a scene from the documentary "The add as cultural observers
King."
Credit Jarecki for includ- Associated Press but there are moments in
ing the exchange in his "The King" where it seems
meandering, overstuffed sit in its back seat and talk that Elvis was no "hero to can feel Jarecki desperate- like an extended episode
and sometimes fascinat- about Presley as they drive me." John Hiatt even starts ly working, slicing, trying to of "Comedians in Cars Get-
ing film about Elvis Presley through key locations in to cry in the back seat, pro- make connections. What ting Coffee."
and America. The direc- The King's life, from his lowly foundly sad for a fellow mu- could have been a gentle, The film weirdly toggles be-
tor seems to acknowledge beginnings in Tupelo, Mis- sician who was "trapped" in personal travelogue is re- tween speaking to real fig-
that he may have bitten off sissippi, to his sad end in his fame. worked and reworked until ures in Elvis' life — like friend
way too much here but he Graceland. But Jarecki seems to want it's often guilty of the last sin George Klein and Presley's
still thinks the idea is worth So far, so good. We get Em- more, something deeper of Elvis — excess. This film is pianist Tony Brown — and
chewing. mylou Harris to call him a and profounder. Perhaps cluttered with half-thoughts discussing his cultural im-
The idea is this: Get Elvis' old "Greek tragic figure" and the rise and fall of Elvis Pre- and tenuous connections, pact with presumably more
1963 Rolls-Royce and invite Chuck D to explain why he sley is a reflection of post- like footage from 1933's exciting celebrities with
a wide group of people to once wrote blistering lyrics World War II America as "King Kong" making fre- questionable expertise.
it morphed from small to quent appearances with- (Ashton Kutcher actually
imperial to then sick and out much purpose. (The makes a powerful witness
bloated? Maybe he's even King. In New York. OK, we to the uncomfortable na-
a reflection of the history of get it). ture of sudden worldwide
the entire country — from The best parts are when fame).
poor and fragile in 1776 African-American crit- Then there's that moment
to the hottest thing on the ics like Chuck D and Van when the Rolls-Royce
planet as a superpower to Jones dig into Elvis, a man breaks down and every-
later addicted to pills and who made a fortune taking one tries to make THAT an
destined to die on a gold- black music and making analogy of post-industrial
en toilet at age 42? All this it palatable for whites. Yet America. Actually, Jarecki
plays out as the Clinton- Presley never marched for comes into some good-
Trump election comes to civil rights or used his fame natured ribbing for even us-
its nail-biting conclusion, to help the very people ing Elvis' Rolls-Royce, which
complete with CNN and he plundered. Other valu- is, of course, an English car.
Fox news announcements able spots are when the More than one observer
about the race, muddying filmmakers explore pov- wonders why he didn't use
the focus of the film. Are we erty, race and the decline one of Presley's old Cadil-
Fat Elvis? Is Trump? of the American dream at lacs, a more perfect sym-
Throughout "The King ," you the hands of corporations, bol of America's trials and
tribulations. That's what this
whole film feels like — for-
ever looking for an analogy
that fits.
"The King," an Oscilloscope
Labratories release, is rated
R by the Motion Picture As-
sociation of America for "for
language, some disturbing
images and brief drug use."
Running time: 109 minutes.
One star out of four.q