Elvis: O Início de uma Lenda

...why...??? well you know Elvis's magnificent song (my favorite of his) which superbly closes the film.Instead of showing Elvis' years of decrepitude,the film avoids the major pitfall of the biopics:dwelling on the sordid side of life.

Not that this "Elvis" passes over in silence the warts 'n all side .Colonel Parker provides the movie with a true villain;he made Elvis but he destroyed him.Take Elvis's movies career :the singer did know what was good (Siegel's "Flaming Star" ) and bad (90% of the rest). He wanted the part of Tony in "West Side Story" and I'm sure he would have been quite good ,at least he could sing ,whilst Richard Beymer could not .

The first part is the rise to fame till Elvis's drafted :Camryn Mannheim,an actress I did not know reminds me of Kathy Bates ,as Gladys Presley -Like John Lennon,Elvis's mother's death was probably the worst thing that happened to him- shines ,and along with Jonathan Rhys Meyers ,who gives an exciting performance and Robert Patrick ,the father at the beck and call of Parker ,they form a credible Presley family. Sam Philips represents music for the art's sake whereas Parker is only in it for the money.

Rhys Meyers carries the second part almost singlehandedly.Priscilla,his femme-infant,Ann Margret ,the duds ,the British invasions (Beatles and Stones ,singers Elvis hated ,though he covered the former group's "Something" ),and the longing for something else (He was always reading strange books)which the finale" If I can dream" perfectly captures.

Parker's character is probably caricatured ,but it does not spoil the interest."Elvis" is a made-for-TV biopic to recommend.

A true Elvis fan will appreciate the solid and outstanding effort by Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He was a natural choice for this project. Aside from the strong resemblance, he also found a way to speak and move like him. He doesn't over-do the accent or the moves. The supporting cast deserves a lot of credit as well, especially Camryn's portrayal of Gladys Presley. The story is very well written and flows nicely. Most fans will enjoy learning more details about the events in his life. The music is exciting too. You will hear the original master recordings as Jonathan performs and he stays true to the tone of the song. Without a doubt this mini-series will keep you captivated.

Randy Quaid almost steals the show as the Colonel, his acting should be award-winning. I don't know how realistic the role was, but the real Colonel could have only hoped to be such a dynamic character.

Overall it was a pleasantly surprising TV movie, and Rhys-Meyers did a terrific job as Elvis. I wish he could have been 2 inches taller, but his voice impersonation was very believable.

Robert Patrick and Camryn Manheim both did excellent acting jobs. Except for Rose McGowan as Ann-Margret, the casting was excellent.

Very easy and fun to watch, I gave it a 9/10 because it is made for TV, and it is surprising that they put so much effort into it.

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers did as good a job as I've ever seen portraying the King of Rock and Roll. Although Elvis cursed more than he ever has in any version of his life I've seen, and he was often abusive to those he was close to, he was an appealing character overall, especially at the beginning of his career. And he really cared about his fans.

Something I wasn't aware of: Elvis cared about the quality of his movies as much as he cared about good music, but he didn't have as much control over his acting as his singing.

I can't recall Elvis' relationship to his mother being shown in such detail. Camryn Manheim did an outstanding job, and I noticed in the documentary airing later in the week on CBS how much the real Gladys Presley resembled Manheim.

Randy Quaid also impressed as Colonel Parker. He was very convincing as an aging man, and he was shown as quite a schemer, but he was not overdone.

There were many other good acting performances. Tim Guinee as Sam Phillips should be mentioned, and Rose McGowan made a sultry Ann-Margret. And I have to mention the black woman at the Cadillac dealership. A brief performance, but very effective.

Like Parker, I'm more of a Lawrence Welk man, but Elvis is something special. And the musical performances were great.

The first part was the most enjoyable, when Elvis was just a young kid getting his career started, when the talent came through and was not overshadowed by fame.

Overall, it was a worthy effort.

This is one of the best Elvis biopics I have ever seen. Its gives a lot of great insight to things that Elvis was going through in his life that others may have not known about or had little knowledge on. I like how the movie starts and ends at the same time, with the middle telling the story how he got there. This film is like a movie and I think should have been released at theaters it is so good. It is better than normal made for TV movies. I've seen this movie so many times I just watch it whenever I get the chance. Anybody that has even a small interest in knowing about Elvis should buy this today, even if you're a longtime fan you'll enjoy it too. Jonathan Rhys Meyers did a better job than a lot of people give him credit for and the other characters were almost spot on. Great MOVIE! 10 out of 10!