Customer Reviews

Elvis Meets Nixon

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Another "made-for-Showtime" original movie that wildly exceeded expectatations (see also my review of the Patrick Stewart vehicle "Safe House"), "Elvis Meets Nixon" details the two days in December of 1970 when Elvis Presley, for reasons known but to himself, left his home in home in Memphis, Tennessee on his own for the first time in his adult life, criss-crossing the country to Washington, DC, then to Los Angeles, CA, and finally back to DC for a meeting with...President Richard Nixon.

Of course it's all a dramatization of events, and perhaps more than just a bit of artistic license has been taken with the two main characters' personalities. But as an Elvis fan who holds the artist and the man with reverence, I found this to be one of the funniest movies I have ever watched. The almost child-like detachment from reality with which Elvis and Nixon lived their lives at the time is incomprhensible at times. Bob Gunton's portrayal of President Nixon rivals that of Dan Hedaya in "Dick" (also made by Canadians, by the way) for sheer genius of comedic timing, and Rick Peters is so amazing as Elvis (the "doughnut shop in DC" scene is one of the most amazingly surreal moments I've ever seen on film...and I own "Bubba Ho-tep", as well) that it took my about six viewings of this movie to realize that he has brown eyes rather than the King's royal blue (how did that detail get overlooked in pre-production?).

Everything that occurs in this movie takes place from a slightly skewed angle; of course it could not possibly happen today (could it?), but to the amazement of everyone, Elvis was able to pull it off some 35 years ago ("Watch and learn, son...watch and learn"). The "interviews" with contemporary artists Wayne Newton, Tony Curtis, and Stephen Stills(?) as well as Dick Cavett and the surviving "characters" associated with Elvis and Nixon at the time are hilarious, as well. The documentary angle is well-played, but the individual performances of Peters and Gunton (try to keep a straight face whenever Nixon swears in this movie, I dare you) are really what carry this movie.

For better or worse, Elvis and Nixon did more to shape the culture of the second half of the 20th Century than practically anyone else; it is natural that they seem somehow inevitably drawn together, and this movie tells the story the way I truly and dearly wish it had actually happened. I'll be watching it tonight (16 August, "Ascension Day", as I call it) eating doughnuts and cheeseburgers. You'd do well to check this one out, as well.

I saw this movie on Showtime back in 1998, and have been hoping it will break into the DVD market soon. A brilliant account of true events. It gives you an enjoyable experience of the King of Rock and Roll, as he journeys around Haight-Ashbury and then around DC, ultimately visiting with President Nixon in the hopes of becoming a DEA agent to fight the war on drugs. A great insight into the similarities of two totally different characters, Elvis and Nixon!

In 1970, in a bid to do his part for the Vietnam War, Elvis takes his first-ever solo plane trip to DC to meet President Nixon to discuss being a federal drug enforcement officer. He usually doesn't carry money or a passport --- one of his entourage does that for him -- but in these pre-Sept. 11 days, he gets past all that.

Nixon has his own turmoil with the Vietnam War protestors -- after all, the war started under Kennedy. Elvis has his own umbrage with those British upstarts, the Beatles. One of the best discussions is when both Nixon and Elvis blame America's fascination with their respective nemesis on "the hair and the accents."

I love that this is a true story, told with some embellishments as no one was actually in that meeting with Elvis and Nixon. It is funny without being a joke. Worth your time!

This highly entertaining, hilarious film, that originally aired on Showtime; examines the time that Elvis flew to Washington, D.C. to meet President Nixon to convince the President to make him a federal marshall. The movie is very loosely based on fact and as the film's narrator points out, if that's not the way things happened then it should have been. This movie portrays Elvis and Nixon as two very similar persons on opposite sides of the cultural spectrum. The film also illustrates how very human these two powerful giants were and that besides their power, the only thing that separated them from "the rest of us" were their very odd eccentricies. Highly enjoyable film.

I started watching this on cable one night with absolutely no expectations. I was pleasantly surprised at how much damned fun this movie was. Quirky, funny & good story. Now how about a DVD???

One of the best movies about Elvis that you will ever see. Great laughs, great story. One of my favorites!

I was too young to appreciate Elvis and I hated Nixon with all my heart. This said, both of these figures are larger than life and this movie plays it for laughs and gets them. I have showed this movie to several friends(I saw it 5 times in one week). Everyone of them loved it and still can't believe they had never heard of this movie. It is a great romp.

This Showtime movie stars Rick Peters (as Elvis, played with affecting sympathy) and Bob Gunton (as Nixon, played with broad wit). The movie recounts the time in 1970 when Elvis (at 35 and out on his own) traveled from Graceland to the White House, where he met with Richard Nixon and asked to be deputized as a federal agent in the war on drugs. Altogether, it was a stranger-than-fiction encounter between two larger-than-life figures. "I think it's one of the greatest events of American pop culture, that Elvis got in to see Nixon," says the movie's writer and producer, Alan Rosen; while Dick Cavett, the movie's narrator, assures us, "If what you're about to see didn't happen exactly this way, it should have" ... The photo of Elvis shaking hands with Nixon continues to be the most requested item at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. - but you can see that photo and others, along with correspondence from the meeting, at the National Security Archive website ("The Nixon-Presley Meeting: The Documentation").

I saw this film via rental in early 1999, and more than any other film in 1999, this is the one that captured my heart and my imagination. If you are someone that gets a kick out of Elvis and busts a gut over Nixon, then this movie is for you. See it, then visit the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, CA and see the GUN! The humor in this movie is fantastic but sometimes you gotta pay attention or you'll miss some of the best funny stuff. See this movie!

This made for t.v. movie is an undiscovered gem. From the very beginning when Elvis shoots out the t.v. because he hates Robert Goulet, you know you are watching something special. Rick Peters does a great Elvis, and Bob Gunton is an hysterically funny Nixon. This movie has great lines, and my teenage kids loved it as well. It is something to watch when you want to laugh. Hopefully, it will be re-released on VHS or DVD. It might be the best movie no one has seen.