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Elvis

Elvis

TV Movie · Music · Drama · 1979

This biopic traces Elvis Presley’s life from his impoverished childhood to his meteoric rise to stardom to his triumphant conquering of Las Vegas.

Movie details

Elvis

“The King lives on!”

1979 TV Movie · Music · Drama 2h 48m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

This biopic traces Elvis Presley’s life from his impoverished childhood to his meteoric rise to stardom to his triumphant conquering of Las Vegas.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Elvis?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Carpenter

Written by

Anthony Lawrence

Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell

Elvis Presley

Shelley Winters

Shelley Winters

Gladys Presley

Bing Russell

Bing Russell

Vernon Presley

Robert Gray

Robert Gray

Red West

Pat Hingle

Pat Hingle

Colonel Tom Parker

Season Hubley

Season Hubley

Priscilla Presley

Melody Anderson

Melody Anderson

Bonnie

Court is in session

Put Elvis on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.