Finding Graceland

With only the sketchiest details beforehand, I expected nothing more than a flimsy "Elvis lives" flick (Then why was I watching? Good question). But this picture has a great deal to say about dealing with pain and loss brought on by reality, about finding one's own identity, about emotional interaction.

Perhaps it tries to say too much. There are loose ends, a too-heavy reliance on coincidence, and an idecision as to whether blind fate or human dynamics controls the course of one's existence. So be it. A quasi-philosophical approach to human destiny featuring Elvis and Marilyn? I'll take it.

Harvey Keitel was so badly miscast as any sort of Elvis that I was at first appalled by his having been chosen for the part (Did they need some sort of "name" in the credits?) But by the time the picture's themes began to emerge, it made a great deal of sense for someone totally impossible as Elvis to be playing the role. The story justified it. The character wasn't Elvis.....but he was.....but he really wasn't.

If you found some or all of what I did in this movie, you will enjoy Clint Eastwood's "Bronco Billy."