Must See Movie...

Expected more

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

I liked Kim in this movie (this movie is principally following her character around) and I haven't always liked the characters she has played. Entirely believable. The movie has an interesting premise: co-incidental deaths of Elvis impersonators prior to a major Elvis convention. Corbet plays Corbet; that is, if you liked him in Zwick's 'Big Fat' movie, you'll like him in this. The accidental deaths are funny. Richard Kind was great. David Leisure psyched. Tom Hanks, well, for those who are getting kind of tired of Tom Hanks, you'll probably love this one. Critics who pan this, to quote Sheryl Crow, outta "lighten up." There are some better movies, but there are many more that are worse, and you probably have some of them. The directing is good. The story is well-cut. It flows. It doesn't go stale. It is a very light romantic comedy about Pink Lady, dying Elvis impersonators, and old connections eventually working out. The ending was a hoot! Full marks for Zwick. Hope he does more.

Elvis Would Have Wept By Doy AriolaThis quirky romantic comedy is yet another indication of how Hollywood is desperately running dry on original material. Shamelessly using a popular music icon as a come on, "Elvis Has Left The Building" is a movie that you will curse for having wasted an hour and a half of your life.Harmony Jones is a beautiful middle aged blonde struggling with a crisis. Not only is she fretting over her boring life as the spokesperson for Pink Lady cosmetics, but Elvis impersonators around her end up dead. As she tries to finish her sales pitch tour while simultaneously making heads or tails of the alarming mortality she unwittingly causes, the FBI and a smitten ad exec (John Corbett) are on hot pursuit. But after having been touched by the King as a child, she prays to him -- like a deity – for guidance and asks for help. Answers are not easily forthcoming, however, but in the end, what proves to be a bane has become her salvation. Like God, Elvis also moves in mysterious ways. I applaud screenwriters Mitchell Ganem and Adam-Mitchell Garber for creating a script that is hackneyed, half-hearted and sorely unfunny. How this script got the greenlight is totally beyond me. Director Zwick may have been dazzled by the premise, but he did not even attempt to overcome the overwhelming blandness of the script to turn it around. If they had pushed the envelope even more, this movie wouldn't have been such a cliché-driven droll. Maybe that's why Zwick managed to lure Tom Hanks, Richard Kind, Pat Morita and a slew of talented comedians in this movie -- for padding. I even think Zwick and this movie aren't well-matched. Maybe Joe Dante's too busy.To be fair, Kim Basinger made a superb (and rare) performance as the befuddled and panicky lead. Her luminous presence here reminded me of her past forays into more successful comedies like "My Stepmother is an Alien" and "Nadine". I almost mistook Corbett as Jeff Bridges in this movie. She manages to get over the horrendous dialogue and make us feel for her, for a few moments.Horrible as "Elvis Has Left The Building" may be, the movie turns an unlikely evil eye to America's commercialization and cheapening of the Elvis heritage. The movie lifts its nose on Americans who had turned Elvis' memory into a travesty of kitsch! Even though I really dug that subtext, the movie doesn't really fully realize its potential and opts for that run-of-the-mill plotting reserved for Jennifer Love Hewitt and Hilary Duff vehicles.Don't you dare watch this movie! But should it become available, buy the soundtrack instead. The movie has a sublime collection of Elvis songs performed with such panache by the likes of Norah Jones and Babyface. Kim Basinger even got to sing a nice rendition of "You Were Always On My Mind". You'll feel so much better after.

I'm not saying this is the best movie I have ever seen. It is, however, a pretty funny movie. I had a special connection Elvis (and still do) and watching this movie helped me, in a way, feel a little closer to him. The movie is about Elvis impersonators. Harmony clearly had a connection with Elvis like I did. She respected him like I do. And since I do, I was a bit hesitant about watching this movie. But as I started watching it, I realized it's not trying to offend Elvis, but it's simply giving out a message that maybe it would bother Elvis, having all the impersonators around. Knowing Elvis, it probably would. So, while this isn't the greatest movie around, it definitely gives a message in a humorous way. My connection with Elvis just got stronger!

Elvis has left the building and he's lucky because he didn't have to watch this unfunny stinker. Scene after scene director Joel Zwick finds ways to make an unfunny script even less amusing. Filled with unfunny deaths, trite gay characteratures, and hack jokes, this film is more desperate than amusing. This is the sort of film that makes one hope Kim Basinger follows Doris Day into premature retirement. Let us remember her the way she was (talented) and not what she's become. David Leisure, the delicious Dennis Richards and the rest are all wasted talents here. Zwick finds a way to minimize their talents at every turn. The guy playing Elvis sounds more like Gomer than the King.The only really good bit of casting is the young girl who plays Basinger as a preteen. She really looks like her and is actually pretty good. The only other reason to watch this film at all is to look for the Tom Hanks cameo. The cameo isn't all that funny, but at least its not painful. One has to wonder if Zwick has incriminating pictures of Hanks or something that would make him do this movie.