Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing means anything anymore, 6 Sep 2006
A young sailor, named Elvis (Gael Garcia Bernal), takes leave from the Navy and attempts to meet with his estranged Father (William Hurt's David Sandow), now a local town Pastor. On first appearances the clean cut and polite young man appears to be a fine, respectable American citizen. However when this initial meeting is halted somewhat abruptly, it gradually becomes clear that things aren't at all what they seem. And so begins `The King', which on the surface at least, is a typical Middle American drama centered around a Bible-Belt dwelling family. What it becomes further along is an engaging and at times thought provoking case study of innocence lost and regained, dealing with sin, vengeance, love and ultimately forgiveness.
Living in the pastel shaded Corpus Christi (Body of Christ to you or me) the Sandow's inhabit the general sanctity of a `Christian Values' town. The father a town Pastor, the good and dutiful wife (Mullholland Drive's Laura Harring), the prodigal son and doting daughter are, from the outside looking in, a picture perfect masquerade belying the secrets and lies of forgotten and hidden pasts. Upon the arrival of the unstable Elvis this veil soon begins to slip. He quickly embarks on a love affair with his 16 year old half-sister, that they both know is wrong but do it anyway. He out of a need for companionship and she as a means of defiance against her father's strict principles, both are convinced that it is love.
Nothing is known of Elvis' back story, why or how he served in the Navy. What he did before this or where he wants to go. We are told that his mother is apparently dead and that he appears to have no other family. His simplistic and crucially regimented outlook on life comes to the fore when presented with a threat or challenge. Clearly lacking an understanding of right and wrong Elvis seems eager to adopt the church as a means to excuse his behavior and thus erase his guilt.
The ensemble cast all put in smart, nuanced performances and Bernal is a fantastic presence, his cutesy pie eyes hiding a much darker core at once sensitive and flirtatious but also verging on something much more dangerous. Pell James (last seen in Jim Jarmusch's `Broken Flowers') is superb, shouldering much of the emotional weight as Malarie, Elvis's half sister and the (perhaps not totally) unwitting catalyst to some unexpectedly violent outbursts. The transition from naive young daddy's girl to dead eyed doll is painstakingly human, her scenes with Bernal are handled with a sensitivity that suggests the sensations are shared yet are never condoned. The under-rated William Hurt puts in yet another strong turn as a `saved' Pastor struggling to maintain control of his congregation, belief and family as his buried sins re-surface. In one key scene his un-wavering faith in a higher order to all things, prompts his wife Twyla to walk headlong in to oncoming traffic, rambling; "Nothing means anything anymore".
British Co-writer/Director James Marsh's `The King' is a difficult proposition to discuss openly without giving away too much of what's going on. That said many cinema-goers who happen to chance upon this indie picture will leave the auditorium by turns, frustrated and - as the makers no doubt intended - shocked and disturbed. Whether or not you enjoy `The King's slow-burning psychological melodrama will depend on your personal moral standing and beliefs (You get the feeling that that's half the point).
Though at times bleakly comical, rather than adopting a satirical approach to its subject matter, The King is a superbly acted treatise on the apparent weaknesses of absolute belief in faith, redemption and an all forgiving higher power.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
the return of the prodigal son, 8 Mar 2007
Do not be deceived by the title of this film, there is nothing here to do with either Elvis Presley or Jesus Christ, except in a most peripheral way. This film is a slow burning drama of the kind you see all too rarely these days.
The King of the title is Elvis Valderez, played with a quiet menace by the wonderful Gael Garcia Bernal, a young man who has recently been discharged from the Navy who heads for the town of Corpus Christi, Texas in search of the father that he has never met. Unfortunately, his father David is a pastor and preaches at the local church, and does not want to be reminded about his wayward youth, and so wants nothing to do with Elvis. But Elvis is not the kind of man to take no for an answer, and sets about worming his way into the family, first via a relationship with his half sister Malerie, who has no idea that this charming stranger is in fact her half brother, and then via other, more disturbing methods.
That all is not as perfect with this family as it first appears soon becomes evident in a series of nicely judged scenes. That David dotes on his legitimate son Paul is quickly made evident, and that his daughter Malerie is somewhat sheltered and looking for a way to get her fathers attention is also made apparent in a series of exchanges both with Elvis, in the family home and at the church. And it is these very factors that Elvis, the cuckoo in the nest of this god fearing family, uses to inveigle his way into the affections of this family, with tragic consequences.
Bernal turns in his usual great performance as Elvis, an obviously troubled man whose motives for doing what he does are left tantalizingly vague (although some people will find this very vagueness frustrating), allowing us to come to our own conclusions about his motives, and whether his actions are premeditated or spur of the moment things. As his father David, William Hurt gives us a quiet and dignified portrayal of a man struggling to come to terms with his past and face up to his future, whilst at the same time wanting his son, and any son will do, to be just like him. Pell James gives Malerie a level of naivety and vulnerability that is just the right side of credibility, and plays the role with more than a little touch of Sissy Spacek. Indeed, the film has other similarities to that seminal work that Spacek starred in, Badlands, both in its portrayal of Elvis, who certainly invites comparisons to Martin Sheens Kit with his air of seductive danger, and in a certain visual similarities, and that can only be a good thing.
Directed by James Marsh and written by Milo Addica, who also wrote the superb Monsters Ball this is an involving and at times deeply surprising movie that manages to be both touching and menacing at the same time. But whether it is a biblical analogy or simply a very good drama, that is up to you to find out for yourself.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely watchable; but not outstanding, 15 Jun 2007
I have to state first that I am a massive fan of Gael Garcia Bernal; but I am not convinced of his casting in this film. He is required to act the part of an amoral sociopath and does this by adopting an expressionless, blank look from start to finish of the film. We are not given any clues to his motivation apart from the death of his mother and early abandonment by his father. I was puzzled by the seeming attraction he forms for his half sister before realising who she is..surely a bit of a coincidence....he ends up having an horrific effect on the family he wanted to join; but all the way along there is no feeling that he planned what took place, rather one awful event drifts into another. This random sequence of events taking place is reinforced by the almost dreamy but menacing soundtrack. We see the camera panning slowly and just know something horrible is going to be revealed. Time to hide behind the sofa. Gael, I think you would have been better off out of this one.
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