DVD Review: The Last Elvis

STUDIO: First Run Features | DIRECTOR: Armando Bo | CAST: John McInerny, Griselda Siciliani, Margarita Lopez
BLU-RAY & DVD RELEASE DATE: 2/25/2014 | PRICE: DVD $24.95
BONUSES: none
SPECS: rating | 92  min. | Foreign language drama | 1.85:1 widescreen | stereo | Spanish with English subtitles

RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie | Audio | Video | Overall

 

Set among the celebrity impersonator (“tribute artist” as they prefer) scene in Buenos Aires, Argentine filmmaker Armando Bo’s music-filled drama The Last Elvis squanders a fascinating milieu and a truly surprising ending on a film that is too often clichéd and dreary.

John McInerny is The Last Elvis.

Carlos Gutierrez (John McInerny) is a factory drudge by day/Elvis impersonator by night. His personal life is a mess, led by an ex-wife who wants nothing to do with him and a little girl (named Lisa Marie, of course) he can’t relate to. When an accident leaves Carlos taking care of his daughter, we have gruff man humanized by child. This will, however, conflict with his fantasy life as “The King.”

McInerny gives a fascinating performance; he’s the main reason to see the film. His Elvis mannerisms are spot-on. This could carry the day on stage, but the physical resemblance (even to the bloated late-life Elvis) is simply not that remarkable. That said, his voice is gorgeous and though he may not have those very low notes that made Presley so unique, the quality is strikingly similar, as is his unforced lyricism. Griselda Siciliani as the put-upon ex and Margarita Lopez as Lisa Marie are fine in their less interesting plot lines.

The cinematography captures the grime of working class Buenos Aires maybe a little too well. And there are some fun cameos by other “tribute artists” especially a Mick Jagger (who worries his time is over) and a Streisand (a man, of course).

An interesting first feature for Bo and a fine leading performance, but you’d probably be satisfied by checking out McInerny’s magnificent cover of  “Unchained Melody”  on Youtube.

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