Very disappointing...

Too much of everything

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I was attracted to this title because I have long been fascinated with identical twins. Although "identical" genetically, some sets behave almost exactly the same while others are quite different. I am close friends with a set who look alike but are quite different in most ways and have taken, so far, quite different paths in life.This story plays on the concept of identical twins separated shortly after birth and growing up in different families but as adults are almost the same. There have been a number of studies over the years of such identical twins growing up quite differently but being almost the same as adults.It starts in the 1930s when the parents of the twins can't make it financially so give one of them for adoption by the local preacher and his wife who had just witnessed that they could not have children. Because this was an unusual action the parents pretended one of the two babies had died and held a funeral, even burying an empty box and installing a headstone.The boy grows up as Ryan Wade and his adopted father plans for him to follow the calling, become a minister. Even though Ryan goes to divinity school, his heart isn't in it, he drops out, works at blue collar jobs like delivery man or auto mechanic after his stint in the Army. Then he learns about famous singer, Drexel Hemsley, who looks exactly like him and sings the way he does (the same actor, a singer and Elvis impersonator plays both roles.) His own career gets kick-started when his wife encourages him to enter a Drexel "sing-alike" contest which he of course wins, then gets a manager and begins his own successful career, but only by impersonating the famous Drexel, who in fact is his brother.Ray Liotta overacts a bit as the preacher Reece Wade, but Ashley Judd is just right as the preacher's wife Louise Wade. The real life singer Blake Rayne, not an actor before this movie, plays Ryan Wade and Drexel Hemsley, but almost all the focus is on Ryan and his path to discover who he really is.I really like this movie, Rayne's acting style is pleasant and the story has a lot of meaning.SPOILERS: As Ryan's career as "The Identical" had taken off, Drexel's small plane crashed and he was killed. (This type of accident happened a number of times to real singers in the 1950s and 1960s.) Then Ryan's dad had a mild heart attack, in the process Ryan found a letter explaining who he really was. He had a short meeting with his birth father, now blind, at Drexel's gravesite, and later thanked his adopted father for all that he had done for him. His singing career continued.

I just needed something to be 'background noise' as I worked on my own projects. Turned on this movie on Netflix on my 2nd large monitor next to my 'working' monitor. Ended up getting an unexpected two-hour break from work due to cancelled meetings, so I sat back in my chair and focused on the movie. It started rather slowly and since I had not read the synopsis here, I didn't know what to expect, but hey I had my popcorn so I settled in to watch. It is an excellent family type movie or maybe a kinda 'chick flick'. NO sex. NO swearing. NO smoking. NO drinking (by the main characters). Just normal, average folks trying to lead good lives. Blake Rayne starring in his first movie ever. He is a well-known Elvis impersonator and that is obvious after the first 10 minutes of the movie. So what? The MAN is handsome, looks like a member of Elvis' family, and boy! can he sing! There's a lot of singing in this movie, early rock music. Apparently some of the other commentors didn't like that, but as a MUSICIAN, I DID. (Non musicians tend to 'like' 'pop' music because they don't grok music. Fine. But real musicians have a different 'understanding' of music.) Other reviewers have explained the premise of the movie, so I won't bother. I go more for 'sensation'... and this movie filled me up emotionally. I thought Ray Liotta gave an Oscar-winning performance, because for the FIRST time I saw how well he can ACT. I didn't know it was Mr. Liotta until halfway through the movie. Ashley Judd was fine, but she is really a one-trick-pony actress, she knows how to play -- Ashley Judd, but she does it exceptionally well. Seth Green is so cute, and quite a good b-rate actor. Actually all main actors in the movie were obviously professionals. BTW, this is NOT a religious movie even though Ray plays a minister and biblical quotes show up once in a while. As far as I am concerned, most people are sheeple anyway, and if the prevailing zeitgeist is 'anti-Christian' rhetoric, that's what the sheeple will baaaaa baaaaa baaaaah in comments for movies of this type. Good entertainment, moral and family strong. LOVED IT. However, the typographer responsible for the end titles (Sherwood Jones) let a typo escape proofreading (I saw the typo), and whoever was responsible for the type fount and kerning didn't understand type for streaming media/TV/movie screens either. The kerning should have been relaxed TV spacing (tight NOT touching), but the titles were, in fact, over kerned, possibly minus 1 when they should have been plus 1), (eruditely yours). Ms. KnowItAll (but I do so BFD) PS this movie may have financially 'bombed' at the theatres, but so did "It's a Wonderful Life". This is a good family movie, that leaves you with a good feeling, and I am BETTING it'll be on TV/streaming media devices for decades to come, just like "It's a Wonderful Life."

The movie did not blow me out of the water, but it was a decent movie for the night. "The Identical" is an era film more than anything else - there's a broad sample of life back in the 1900s and it's pretty accurate. The twins are also a call back to Elvis, with a "what if someone (like Elvis) had a living twin who looked and sounded just like him?" There's a strong religious theme. The acting is mediocre. It's certainly kid-friendly, and unlike some movies no one is actually going to be in pain if they choose to watch it. It's an interesting enough story; but it breaks no molds and the music, story, and acting failed to bring any tears to my eyes or raise important questions. For me, the emphasis was placed too strongly on the "Identical's" identity issues,

Sometimes it's refreshing to see a sweet movie that has some nice cinematography, good actors and no violence, for a change. Doesn't matter if it's faith based or not; it's relaxing and rewarding. We just have to lay our usual critical sense aside and enjoy the ride. This movie have not wasted money on excesses, it's all there on the screen, and for the budget it's really managed to capture the times nicely. This movie has a little bit of Elvis, the 50s, Jerry Lee Lewis, a bit of faith, nice cars, clothes and manners from times gone by. And, why not? It feels fun to see something that are sweet and in a way a little silly sometimes. That doesn't mean that it don't have real feelings and emotions, just that it's not pretending to be something it ain't. I saw this movie with an open mind, and I found the ride to be quite good.