Elvis - The Early Years Reviews

Disappointing re tread

Looking like the person he's supposed to be Jonathan Rhys-Meyers at least equips himself with looks, but falls down on the performance. Had he been the real thing, I doubt if he'd made it past his teens. The film has a deja-vu feel about because of the vastly superior John Carpenter version from 1979 with Kurt Russell.

Then Elvis's story was incomplete, whereas now we've heard it from family, friends and recently his ex-wife and daughter, so this feels like another version of the same story.

Diasppointing in every respect.

Not bad, wouldnt want to see again though

Jonathan Reece Myers certainly looks the part, at times he is a perfect lookalike but his lip syncing was appaling ,so bad at times I felt embarrased for him as he was also having to mime to tracks that were quite obviously old noisy recordings. You could hear the diffrence between songs. But all said and done not a bad film not one to rush an see and nowhere near as good as John Carpenters Elvis the Movie.

the king rocks

being a big elvis fan i thought this film wasn't to bad, but it shows that nobody could move like the king

Thumbs down!

I didn't like this film, I found it quite slow and not very enjoyable, he tried to hard to Elvis and it just didn't work, I couldn't even get it into my mind that this was meant to be about Elvis. Stick with the Kurt Russell version for an enjoyable viewing!

Long live the King.

Johnathan Rhys Meyers looked the part (sometimes he also looked the part of Joaquin Phoenix but that is neither here nor there) and I rented this because I adore him and Rose McGowan in equal measures.

The big, BIG problem was the lip synching. Whereas Walk the Line had Joaquin actually singing so even if it wasn't the best it was real. This? Well you could blatently tell JRM wasn't singing and I wish he had done. Even if they dubbed over it would have looked more real!

It felt overlong as well as too short. Some of the things it showed felt unnecessary whereas it seemed to skip other, more interesting, parts.

The supporting cast, most notably the mother and father, were great. Priscilla was too, in as much as someone who isn't overly familiar with the story can judge.

JRM didn't seem to age well though. He looked more tired, certainly, as time passed but what was roughly 1015 years didn't show on his face.

I enjoyed it and would watch it again, though not for a year or two.

Elvis is the King

Let me start by saying that Elvis Presley is the greatest entertainer the world has ever seen. He had the talent and charisma the like of which we will never see again. In his personal life, he was a fun loving man who who was polite and generous to everyone he met. This film potrays Elvis as moody and angry, which is totally unfair and incorrect.

The task of playing the role of Elvis is an impossible one, as no actor possesses the unique qualities that Elvis had in abundence. Maybe they played Elvis as this angry bitter man because they couldnt find someone to fill his shoes......again, totally unfair!! It seems like the casting criterea for the part of Elvis was to get someone with high cheek bones. If that was the mission, then congratulations!!!

And just when you think, it cannot possibly get any worse, Rhys-Myers miming and dancing to 'If I can Dream', which is one of Elvis's most powerful songs, is just cringeworthy! However, this scene does however have one positive aspect. It shows that Elvis cannot be immitated.

If you must watch this film, then please please look up Elvis singing 'If I can dream'. Either buy the 68 comeback special or go to you tube and watch it, then compare it to the stiff, ugly , no rythm version that you see played by Rhys-Myers. If the film ended with the REAL ELVIS, singing his song, just to show his magic, then it could have saved itself from being an embarrising mistake.

A dissapointed Elvis fan.

Long live the King!

Jonathon Rhys-Meyers is a fantastic Elvis.

I was a little sceptical about watching this having read previous revious about dodgy miming but I was very pleasantly surprised. JRM grows into the role as the film progresses with his accent and mannerisms becoming stronger and stronger. I agree that the first few sung tracks looked obvioulsy as if JRM isn't singing them but that's due to the poor quality of the original recordings. By the end of the film you felt he really was singing as the quality became better. I would recommend this film to any Elvis fans and definitely to fans of Rhys-Meyers. He's a brilliant actor and his qualty of being able to adapt and take on any role is inspiring.

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[Highly rated reviewer]

engrossing and persuasive

rhys meyers is totally persuasive impersonating elvis but adding something to him - how he was under the thumb of his manager and what that subservience was about - we understand his motivations and the simplistic values that could not deal with the growing complexities of his life - the accent seems perfect - the singing too is spot on - even that rendition of if i can hope that elvis sang in his comeback show was convincing - in the real elvis' performance there is something awkward about his arm waving - and although rhys meyers almost gets the conviction (not quite - it'd be nearly impossible to do, i reckon) right, he does get the gestures absolutely right. a noteworthy effort all 'round of a giant.