The President who received the King
ELVIS & NIXON (15, 86 mins)
ON December 21, 1970, Elvis Presley arrived unannounced at the gates of the White House in full regalia with a rambling letter for US President Richard Nixon.
In the letter, the singer requested he be granted the special status of Federal Agent At Large for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in order to use his influence to dissuade America’s youth from experimenting with illegal substances and engaging in other counterculture behaviour.
Nixon agreed to an audience with the musical superstar.
There are no audio records of the pair’s conversation, but director Liza Johnson elicits compelling performances from Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey for her amusing dramatisation of this head-on collision of pop and politics.
Elvis & Nixon evokes the period with bling-laden style and scriptwriters Joey Sagal, Hanala Sagal and Cary Elwes revel in the preposterousness of the brief encounter.
The film opens in the plush confines of Graceland where Elvis (Shannon) is horrified by the anarchy he sees unfolding on his television screen.
Determined to halt his country’s descent into depravity, Elvis embarks on a madcap odyssey to Washington DC to meet Nixon (Spacey).
The President’s initial disdain for the singer’s handwritten letter is evident, but the frostiness gradually melts as Nixon discovers that his jumpsuit-clad visitor agrees about the insidious influence of the media and shares his withering opinion of the Beatles.
Elvis & Nixon provides the lead duo with plentiful opportunities for scenery-chewing. Shannon and Spacey relish their verbal duels, which add lustre to a film that might otherwise have been consigned straight to home formats.