Elvis Has Left the Building (2004)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Joel Zwick

Writers:

Mitchell Ganem (written by)
Adam-Michael Garber (written by)

Release Date:

27 August 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance

Plot:

A fugitive Pink Lady rep hooks up with a bored ad exec as she's trying to avoid going down for the murder of several Elvis impersonators.

Plot Keywords:

Elvis Presley | Elvis Impersonator | Accidental Death | Gay Stereotype | Character Name In Title

Cast

Kim Basinger	...	Harmony Jones
John Corbett	...	Miles Taylor
Annie Potts	...	Shirl
Sean Astin	...	Aaron
Mike Starr	...	Sal
Phill Lewis	...	Charlie
Denise Richards	...	Belinda
Philip Charles MacKenzie	...	Darren Swirl
Richard Kind	...	Burning Elvis
David Leisure	...	Hole-in-the-Head Elvis
Tom Hanks	...	Mailbox Elvis
Joel Zwick	...	Squashed Elvis
Angie Dickinson	...	Bobette
Pat Morita	...	Man in Turban
Gil McKinney	...	Young Elvis

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual references/humor.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (FotoKem)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Philippines:G | UK:12 | Australia:M | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40952) | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Spain:13 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-11 | USA:PG-13 | Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Capitol Films

Trivia:

John Corbett made sure Heineken had paid for product placement before he would drink one on camera. The producers insisted they had been paid and then Corbett insisted he should get paid also. The producers agreed and Corbett drank joyfully from the apple juice-filled familiar green bottle.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: (At 19.00) In one of Harmony's 1950s flashbacks her mother has an Elvis song for every car problem. "Always On My Mind" is said to represent 'a flat tire'. The song was actually written in the 1970s and recorded by Elvis in 1972.

Soundtrack:

Return to Sender

Wacky Movie

This is a comedy of coincidence, where Kim Basinger is a traveling saleswoman for the Pink Lady cosmetics company, driving a pink Cadillac and wearing pink all over. Add to this horror the bad taste of Elvis impersonators appearing everywhere and the fact that whenever Kim is around some Elvis impersonator dies accidentally, and you have a wacky comedy.

Of course, there is a bit of romantic comedy hidden in this movie, a bit of the "neorealist" trend with the two investigating cops being the complete opposite of each other and also a couple, talking even more nonsense than Travolta and Jackson in Pulp Fiction. But the main theme of the movie seems to me the breakthrough of life from the sea of mediocre bad taste.

In the end Kim wears black, finds her true love and Elvis takes revenge on the silly people emulating him. Can't say it's a good movie, but it has that bit of originality that makes it stand out. And it's fun, too, if you don't feel the need for something profound.