Finding Graceland

Yesterday, I was flipping channels and came across this little gem. As soon as I saw Harvey Keitel, I laid the tv remote down. I caught it during the opening credits and I had no clue what to expect. I wasn't too concerned though. Any film involving Keitel usually has its rewards. The story follows a young man who was widowed a year ago. He's taking a road trip when he picks up a drifter who claims to be Elvis, but looks nothing like the king.

This is the kind of feel-good drama that I haven't seen in a long time. Perhaps what suprised me the most, was that this is the kind of flick that the whole family can enjoy. The prfanity is very light and there is one mild scene of sexuality. Harvey Keitel delivers a knockout performance as Elvis and Bridget Fonda was also quite good in a barely recognizable role as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator. It was only when she took off the make-up that I recognized her. This one is well worth seeing.

Damn fine movie. Will keep you guessing all the way till the end, and perhaps you'll choose not to believe anyways. I was glued to this movie from start to finish, the King will always live on in peoples memories won't he.

This is the kind of film you'll be debating a year after you see it. Harvey Keitel at his best.

The film should have been nominated somewhere.

This is a truly adult film with no easy answers, but with fascinating people involved in a plot worth your close attention.

Pure enchantment and intrigue... enter this movie to witness Harvey Keitel stand up for the spirit, if not the flesh, of Elvis. Johnathon Schaech (as Byron Gruman) portrays a grieving husband traveling east who picks up the hitch-hiking Keitel, who claims to be Elvis making his way back to Graceland to reveal his 20-year plot to disappear. Little known to Byron, Elvis has a hidden agenda, and at every turn produces magic from all those who surround him. His true identity and intentions drag you into the plot and you teeter on not believing, and wanting to believe. Bridget Fonda enters as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, and she and Byron both pursue the enigma of Elvis, all the way to the real Graceland. In the end, it is the journey, not the destination that matters, and Keitel produces an unforgettable character true to our images of the real Elvis... and yet... this movie is not about Elvis, it is about the heart, and dreams, and hope. The charm of this movie will linger with you (however improbable), as in "Local Hero", "Cinema Paradiso", or "The Swimmer" (Burt Lancaster), or even "One Special Christmas", or "Field of Dreams". Don't miss this performance, it's on my list of "must see at least once".

"Finding Graceland" is a sweet, fascinating movie that will take you through a whole landscape of unlikely characters who show up unexpectedly and manage to leave their perfect gifts behind. It is a road movie in which the adventures are spiritual. When Keitel announces that he is Elvis, you suspect that he is delusional but, before the movie ends he will convince you that what you think you know is not necessarily the way things are. Keitel is wonderful at playing tough guys but I think he really shines as an actor in his smaller and more low-key movies like this one and Smoke. The cast is excellent - some playing celebrity impersonators who are real, complex human beings with personalities of their own. Bridget Fonda as a tender, almost motherly, Marilyn Monroe is great fun to watch. I've seen this movie several times and it holds up well, always revealing new layers of story and message. Wonderful scenery, a classy car, excellent performances, and a quirky plot make this a worthwhile movie to watch. Maybe even to watch over and over. I hope you like it as much as I do.