(From syracusenewtimes.com)
Everything in “The Identical” screams Elvis Presley.
The South. The 1950s, teen growing up with faith wanting to sing rock and soul and R ‘n’ B.
But it’s not supposed to be, is it? Except they casted as the main character(s) Ryan Wade/Dexter Hemsley one Blake Rayne, who looks like a cherubic young Elvis and sings like Elvis and, hey, was an Elvis impersonator in his real life?
Odd duck, this movie. But entertaining, this tale of identical twins separated the day after they were born by dirt-poor depression-era parents, one raised by a preacher man and his wife and the other by his natural folk.
I won’t give away more except to say Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, Joe Pantolioni, Erin Cottrell and Seth Green all advance the story of connection and conviction quite well.
I give away paragraphs more of detail in my weekly Film Review Blog on the Syracuse New Times site. Click the link below to read it.
http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/hey-know-look-identical-elvis/
Are you a fan of Elvis Presley music, and if so, young Elvis, old Elvis, which Elvis songs? Have you ever gone to see an Elvis impersonator, and if so, was it a good or bad experience, and why? Do you know identical twins, and do you have any stories about how they seem to know each other’s thoughts and feel each other’s pain?
Mark Bialczak 
I saw trailers for this movie and wondered how in the world it wasn’t about Elvis! I have seen several impersonators over my life but just last year I saw a musical called ELVIS LIVES. It was pretty dang good and had four different actors as Elvis for the various stages in his life. My fave music is his early years but I die over his bedazzled jumpsuits!
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This actor looks JUST LIKE young Elvis, CBXB. That musical sounds Hound Dog good.
I have three fave Elvis songs and I can’t cut it down from that. “In the Ghetto,” “Suspicious Minds” and “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.” Any and all of them can make me tear up. Elvis’ voice on ’em has that quality.
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Oh nothing compares to Elvis’s voice in my book. Great song picks. My fave is, of course, Teddy Bear.
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Of course! Serenade Teddy for us. What is New Cat’s song, CBXB?
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If I Only Had a Brain from the Wizard of Oz!
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You are such a rascal, CBXB. Or shall I call you Dorothy? 🙂
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I haven’t come across a ‘good’ Elvis Presley impersonator yet!
I was thinking how much this actor looks like Elvis. Whoa! I might give it a watch…
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He’s a dead-ringer, and a good singer, too, Amanda. Worth the watch when it goes out of the theaters to pay-per, which may be this week already. 🙂
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That sounds like a really cool movie… Again, I’ve never even seen a preview yet! LOL! I photographed a wedding in Canada once where I thought the officiant looked a lot like Elvis. After the ceremony, he took off his robes and revealed a white and gold one-piece pants suit, the lights went down and he started singing Love Me Tender! Yes, really! He entertained throughout the entire reception. Turns out now only was he an Elvis impersonator and and ordained minister, but he was also either a member of the city government or was running for city government, because I then saw him on a billboard on my way home! Yes, really!
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Now that’s an all-purpose Elvis impersonator, Rachel. I am impressed by that dude. This was a pretty interesting movie. No previews, though!
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My sister just told me she’s heard of this movie… on table cards at Zaxby’s! (A fast -food chicken restaurant.) How odd! 🙂
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Interesting product placement there, Rachel. They went Southern-franchise!
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Exactly! 😀
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We saw this movie Friday. I liked it. I thought Liotta gave an outstanding performance – very credible. Ashley Judd gave a nice performance as well. I thought the movie’s conceit was an interesting one. I rather like how they skewed the Elvis / Twin reality into an entirely different direction.
A few things seemed jarring to me and I didn’t quite understand why those elements were in the movie – the very subplot about Judaism seemed superfluous somehow, without real bearing on the story. I wondered if I’d missed something along the way. Did you understand that? I realized the boys were Jewish only at the end, but wasn’t sure why that entered into the story.
Anyway, it was a pleasurable way to spend a few hours and I enjoyed it.
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I thought since the writer and director had the faith crowd, they were going to use their time on the pulpit for every message they could, Kate, and the double-barrel religion angle must have a bearing on one of their lives. That was my walk-away. Yes, Karen and I walked away saying we liked it, oddly.
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I love Elvis. We had him on during dinner just last night, in fact. How come I never heard of this movie? I thought I had my finger on the pulse but it turns out I don’t know jack. Same as it ever was.
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You didn’t know about it because they didn’t promote it worth a dime, Mark. I scopethat stuff out beforehand because I want to see cool stuff for my reviews. (And my wife read the review in Entertainment Weekly because she keeps me on my toes.)
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I don’t know a set of twins or siblings that can match the connection I have with my siblings, Chum. Comes with surviving in the trenches together, I think.
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You know the trenches, Aud. You are strong, Red.
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This flick did not do very well at the box office this weekend…
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I know. My wife and I and five others in the theater in Syracuse, Austin. Anecdotal crickets.
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They all can’t be blockbusters I guess…
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This one wasn’t even an ice-chipper, though, and it deserved better. I think it had a promo budget of 12 cents and two boxes of SnoCaps.
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🙂
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There are many Elvis’ songs I love. I would watch this movie. 🙂
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The actor’s got a great voice, and the soundtrack songs are pretty darn good, Colleen.
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Looking forward to it. There are a few pictures of my father in his young days where he could have pulled off an Elvis impersonation. 🙂 Maybe that’s why I like Elvis.
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Your dad was good-looking! Cool beans to that, Colleen.
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😉 He was quite adorable. Thank you Mark.
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this sounds interesting mark. i’m a fan of elvis, though not a huge one, but i do enjoy his iconic music. i am however a HUGE fan of twins and their amazing and mind-boggling connections, so for both reasons, this might be a film i’d enjoy –
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And I know you like eccentric movies, and this is that, too, Beth.
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I’m a fan of the younger Elvis, but jumped ship once The Beatles crossed the pond. We have an Elvis impersonator in our community who is running for Elvis. In Vegas, where my brother lives, there’s probably an Elvis look-alike every other block. 😉
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Every other floor of the apartment complex, right, Judy?
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Will I be (figuratively) shot if I say I don’t care much for Elvis? Am sure I would’ve if he’d been a part of those crazy “formative years,” but if we’re talking music history I’m more of a Beatles fan. BUT, I am a markbialczak fan because I love how you write. Checked out your review and enjoy reading your words. You mentioned in an earlier comment reply how you fill your time professionally and I love what you do. Though in different fields and I don’t have the journalism experience, I’d like to think we are kindred spirits who love writing and editing. (do you like editing?) Words rock 😀
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Words do rock, Liz, and yes, editing is another part of the intricate puzzle, no? Thank you for this comment, today, specifically. 🙂 I feel the kindred thing, yes, I do.
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I am an Elvis fan; not the black-dyed hair Las Vegas version, but the earlier kid. And I think this movie sounds fascinating especially the separated twin aspect.
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It has a lot interesting, oblique angles, Barbara. I hope you agree when you see it.
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I love Elvis more than apple pie and baseball. I recall reading the book “Tender,” which was also loosely based on Elvis, and it was great. But it does make you wonder what was really Elvis, since so much paralleled his life. I only saw one trailer for this and then read yesterday that it was the lowest-grossing premiere in history at theatres over 2000, something like that. I thought to myself, well, if folks only saw one trailer (and I watch HOURS of TV daily), then how would they even know to go see it? He sure does look like Elvis…
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The theater here was Karen and I and six other people, one a guy who accepted his incoming phone calls.
I watch as much TV as you, Kerbey, and saw no trailers for it, only what I caught before other movies. So, I do believe you are correct. Self-fulfilling prophecy.
Yes, Elvis all over his chubby face, right?
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Yes, but in a cuter way, not in a 1977 bloated way. And the trailer you included looked almost Technicolor! I might want to go just for the cinematography. It’s like South Pacific.
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It did have that going for it, too, Kerbey. Soothing.
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I’ve been (and still am) an Elvis fan since forever – any Elvis works for me, rock, ballad, gospel. There is an Elvis impersonator in my town who I have seen once, he’s not a bad singer but tends to sing Buddy Holly ect as well so maybe not a true ‘Elvis’ 😉
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Blurred Lines between Elvis and Buddy. Uh-oh. He better practice more, Cathy.
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I would likely be interested in this movie Mark. I enjoy Elvis and have a number of favorites: “Ring of Fire”, “In the Ghetto”, “Daddy Don’t Walk so Fast”, “Rainy Night in Georgia” and more. I haven’t seen an Elvis Impersonator, but I worked with one for a number of years and his act was very popular. Ha! He would occassionally burst into song while working. He was very good. He was also one heck of a character personally. Although he sometimes got into trouble for it. I gotta tell you this quick story about him. His brother was a provincial cop and Mike (the impersonator) drove a gas tanker for me. Early one morning Mike was driving south on a 4-lane divided highway tohrough his brother’s patrol territory. A cuiser came up behind him and sure it was his brother, he began to weave back and forth from lane to lane to prevent the officer form passing him. After a few minutes, the cruiser displayed his lights and Mike pulled over. Knowing it was his brother, he jumped out of the cab from the passenger’s door and hid between the tractor and trailer. When the officer walked by, Mike jumped out behind him and hollered. When the officer spun and drew HER gun, Mike realized it wasn’t his brother at all. That took some explaining believe me (I eventually ended up getitng involved) but Mike’s brother (who had the day off) eventually convinced his colleague that it was a joke gone awry and to release Mike without charges. We teased him for months about that>
Anway sorry for the segue. Just a funny to cheer up your morning.
Thanks for the great post Mark, Thank you.
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Your Elvis impersonator cop not brother gone awry story did cheer me up, Paul. Ha! His mutton chops were lucky not to have been singing the Jailhouse Rock! Thank you, kind friend! Is this the Mike you drove the windy lightning pass with? My memory on the name is shaky, but I think it might be the same guy …
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That was actually Stephan – but you are so right, Mike would have jumped on that like a cat on catnip! Ha!
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Not a fan of his music, though I recognize the significance of it all.
My grandmother’s nursing home used to have yearly performances by a local impersonator. They loved the show he put on!
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A nursing home is the perfect place tor that show, Jeanette. Wonderful story. Thank you for making me smile at the thought of it!
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Embrace Elvis! You know you want to. Don’t fight it any longer. You’ll be glad you did.
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