Elvis & Nixon

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Liza Johnson/Starring: Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Colin Hanks, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville and Evan Peters

According to a factoid in the film Elvis & Nixon; director Liza Johnson's dramatization of the meeting between Elvis Presley and President Richard Nixon, the most requested photograph from the National Archives is the shot of the two men shaking hands in the Oval Office in December 1970. There is something about the picture that is absurd, comical and bizarrely surreal. It has ineffable qualities that make it both mildly disturbing and strangely appealing. Looking at the photo, the first thought that always comes to mind (and maybe yours) is: what could one of the world's most famous pop stars and one of the most controversial American presidents (controversial even before Watergate) of all time have said to one another? That question may have inspired Johnson and screenwriters Joey and Hanala Sagal and Cary Elwes (yes, that Cary Elwes) to address the question cinematically. Like the famous photo, Elvis & Nixon is off-the-wall, weirdly funny and very entertaining.

Rather than plunge the audience into the meeting itself, the first act is made up of events leading up to the eventful Oval Office meeting. Watching multiple TV screens in his Graceland Mansion, Elvis (Michael Shannon) shows his disgust with news stories of counter culture rebellion; protests, draft-card burning and the drug culture by leveling a handgun at the TV screen and firing a bullet into it.

Shortly thereafter, we see him write a letter though we hardly know to whom it's addressed. In the following scene, we see him approach an airline counter alone; minus his entourage. The woman behind the counter is very star-struck. While booking his flight, she becomes alarmed when she glimpses his holstered handgun beneath his blazer. Meanwhile, his long-time friend in L.A.; Jerry Schilling (Alex Pettyfer) receives a call from Elvis, who we see is sitting in front of airline security desk. Elvis alerts Jerry to his situation, but as we might have anticipated, the star's power makes a potentially sticky incident go away.

Elvis flies to L.A. shortly thereafter to see his friend. At a meeting in Elvis' west-coast home, Jerry is apprised of his friend's plan to meet with Richard Nixon and asks him to proofread the letter he penned earlier. Elvis explains to Schilling his plan to meet Nixon and his intention to become a Federal Agent at Large; someone who could infiltrate the communist elements of the counterculture. He also expresses his wish to have a Federal Agents' badge. Schilling is naturally puzzled but overriding his bewilderment is his marriage proposal to his girlfriend, which is to follow in several days time. Knowing his proposal could be jeopardized by Elvis' plan, he reluctantly accedes anyway to Elvis' powerful persuasion.

Once Elvis and Jerry arrive in Washington, the film becomes amusingly surreal as the two men show up at the White House security gate, asking that the letter be forwarded to the President. The bewildered expressions on the guard's faces are priceless. Elvis' smooth charm overcomes a hard-nosed security guard, who at first seems impervious to the star's charisma.

The film shifts its perspective as Nixon staff member Dwight Chapin (Evan Peters) brings Elvis' letter to the attention of his superior, Egil Krogh (Colin Hanks), who is as incredulous as his colleague. Seeing the public relations value of a meeting between Elvis and Nixon, Krogh presents the idea to White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman (Tate Donovan), who initially dismisses the idea until Krogh reminds him of how a meeting might appeal to southern voters. Haldeman's approbation secured, Krogh and Chapin broach the subject with Nixon (Kevin Spacey) during a daily agenda meeting. The reaction the idea elicits from Nixon is another fine moment in the film as Krogh explains Elvis' petition to become a badge-carrying federal agent. Nixon, in a moment of cantankerousness, balks at the ridiculousness of the idea and promptly sends the men away. Undeterred, Krogh enlists the help of Nixon's daughter in bringing the meeting about.

Meanwhile, Elvis waits at a hotel for word from the White House and Schilling frets about his need to return to L.A.

Krogh's ploy succeeds, which sets the scene for the historic meeting, which is a pure pleasure to behold. The suspense preceding the meeting is established slowly and effectively. I'll only divulge a few details of their famous encounter. The actual meeting is fascinating, (I'm not privy to the fact to fiction ratio); not only from a dramatic perspective, but a psychological one as well. Presented with protocol on how to behave in the Oval Office, Elvis takes pleasure in flouting them, much to Krogh's dismay. Whether Elvis was deliberately jabbing at White House authority or merely being mischievous I can't say (if any of this happened at all) but it is great fun to watch. Elvis shows a calculating side when he rails against communism, drug-use among the youth and the Beatles; knowing he's saying exactly what Nixon wants to hear. Does Elvis get what he wants? I won't say.

The film could only work if its center--said meeting--holds our attention; which it does. But the center only holds if its two main cast members; Shannon and Spacey, make their characters compelling, which they do wonderfully. Though neither actor resembles the real life figures much, they reach for essence and get it with fine performances. Shannon nails Elvis' mannerisms, while his tall, imposing presence and his affected soft-spokenness fortify his portrayal. Spacey is outstanding as Nixon. He not only mimics the president's idiosyncratic voice, but he captures his insecurities, his penchant for profanity and his irascibility with artistic elan.

We know tragedy awaits both men in their respective futures, which lends poignance to the photo and the film. But the film isn't a tragedy; it's a funny, entertaining story about a pop star's outlandish agenda and a president who seizes a self-serving opportunity.

Post-film subtitles tell us what became of the respective participants. What awaits Krogh and Chapin seems almost inevitable.

Johnson manages to wring an entire story out of one meeting and a photo but she makes it worth our while. It's hard not to smile after watching Elvis & Nixon and marvel at how two people who might not have met under normal circumstances actually did. Such an event would hardly be improbable now but back in the square, Nixonian White House, such an encounter seems unthinkable.

Midnight Special

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Jeff Nichols/Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard, Jaeden Lieberher and Bill Camp

Jeff Nichols, director of the creepy and intense Take Shelter, now ventures into the sci-fi realm with Midnight Special, which comes with its own measure of intensity. Joining Nichols is his frequent collaborator; the always impressive Michael Shannon, whose tightly-wound performance ensures the drama always simmers. While maintaining an exciting, kinetic pace, the story's mysteries are dispensed sparingly until its wondrous climax--which elicits a sense of wonder--mitigates the film's heightened edginess.

Nichols' film begins in what is a chapel on the grounds of a doomsday cult compound in Texas. The cult's reverend, Calvin Meyer (Sam Shepard), has just been accosted by FBI personnel during his service, while his bewildered congregation looks on. Questioning the reverend behind closed doors, we learn the FBI is looking for Meyer's adopted son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher); a child the parish looks upon as their savior. Why would a little boy be of importance to both the government and a cult? NSA analyst Paul Sevier (Adam Driver) gets to the heart of the matter when he asks how and why a little boy would have encrypted codes to a government satellite?
The boy becomes more of a mystery when Meyer tells the agents the boy speaks in tongues.

As the FBI and NSA hunt for Alton, Meyer dispatches two cult members to find the boy and return him to the compound. Meanwhile, Alton's real father; Roy (Michael Shannon) and his best friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton) have taken the boy from the compound and are racing off to a place unknown to the audience. Judging from Roy and Lucas' desperate determination, we gather they are fully aware other interested parties are hot on their tail as they speed down the highway. We first catch a glimpse of Alton in Roy's car as we see the young boy in odd, blue goggles, though we aren't sure of their purpose. As Roy and Lucas plot their course, Alton is enthralled with a Superman comic book. Roy gently chides Lucas for giving Alton comic books after the boy asks about Kryptonite. We learn comic books were a pleasure denied Alton in the compound.

While on the run, their car becomes known to the authorities, making a safe refuge a high priority. They visit a former member of the cult, who offers them shelter and anonymity. During their stay, the house begins to shake violently, which prompts Roy and Lucas to enter Alton's bedroom, where they find a blinding ray of light connecting his eyes to this friend's. Roy and Lucas manage to free their friend from the link and scold their friend for daring to look into Alton's eyes. Their security compromised, Roy, Lucas and Alton flee.

Nichols; a master at holding the audience captive in an unnerving and sustained state of suspense, slowly reveals Alton's secrets. Though the origin of Alton's extraordinary powers is withheld until later in the film, we get some sense of the scope of his abilities. During a stop at convenience store, Alton wanders away from the vehicle and into the parking lot. There he stares at the sky until Roy hurries to his side from inside the store. As they both look up into the sky, they (and we) see glowing orbs of light, which begin to bombard the parking lot. The three drive away hurriedly and later, during the FBI and NSA's investigation, we find that Alton has essentially destroyed a satellite designed to warn against nuclear attack. Other, less destructive powers emerge. While driving, Alton begins to speak Spanish. Roy tells Lucas that it is something he does often and while turning the radio dial, we find that Alton is actually repeating a Spanish DJ's radio patter word for word.

Roy and Lucas manage to find Alton's mother Sarah (Kirsten Dunst), who takes them in and hides them. We find that Sarah gave up her son in the past due to her inability to care for him.

Alton is ultimately kidnapped after Meyer's armed thugs shoot Lucas and Roy. But before they can give chase, they discover Alton has been captured by the military and government agents.

During Alton's captivity, he is held in an empty, white room. His goggled face gives the impression of someone strange and alien. In one of the film's best scenes, Alton and Sevier meet inside the chamber while the other personnel are dismissed. Alton tells Sevier that he is neither the savior the cult craves nor the weapon the government believes he is. Sevier becomes sympathetic to Alton's plight, knowing the boy must reach the place which his father and Lucas intend to find. After helping Alton to reunite with Roy and Lucas, Sevier handcuffs himself to make it appear as though he was overpowered. Refusing Sevier's request to come along, Alton, Roy, Lucas and Sarah speed away.

In time, Alton finally reveals his true nature and why he must reach the area for which he and the others have risked their lives.

Nichols doesn't cheat the audience with anti-climactic nonsense but satisfies our intense curiosity about the boy. The movie's otherworldly, uplifting end is a fascinating, dramatic counterpoint to the scary, sometimes violent story that precedes it.

What is particularly interesting about Nichol's film is how he chooses to parcel out expository information, which is always dispensed on a need-to-know basis. Without becoming bogged down in clunky, pace-hobbling, explication, Nichols keeps the audience wired by doling out discrete quanta of information about the characters and Alton's mission. Though the movie moves along at brisk clip, Nichols keeps the story and action tight.

Nichols collaborations with Shannon have been fruitful and succeeds again. It is an exceptional trick of casting to have Joel Edgerton; another actor known for his edgy performances, to play Shannon's sidekick. I was surprised to see Kirsten Dunst; I hadn't seen her in a film in some years but she holds her own against two dramatic stalwarts; Shannon and Edgerton.

I find distressing to learn Nichols' film is only playing in very select theaters. I never saw one advertisement or trailer for the film. How is such a terrific film supposed to find an audience when little care has been assigned its promotion? Is it because Shannon and Edgerton aren't Chris Hemsworth or Ryan Reynolds in the handsome hunk department? A major disservice has been done to this film. It deserves far better.

Like 10 Cloverfield Lane, Nichols' film appropriates a genre to tell a compelling and thrilling story. It moves along, never forgetting its audience and it rewards us for our attention. It promises and doesn't renege.

Freeheld

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Peter Sollett/Starring: Ellen Page, Julianne Moore, Michael Shannon and Steve Carell

Films that deal with contemporary issues are emotionally charged and often timely but they also tend to not be very cinematic. They also would seem to be more suitable for television.
Freeheld; a new film about the late Laurel Hester; the police officer who fought the Ocean County Freeholders in New Jersey to allow her partner to receive her pension, is the latest "issue" flick to make its way to screens nationwide. Don't get me wrong; her struggle for equality is an important subject but its artistic ambitions are stubbornly modest. The film elicits tears but it feels so much like a small screen production one might instinctively reach for a remote.

We see Hester (Julianne Moore) and her partner Dane Wells (Michael Shannon) making an undercover drug bust in the opening scenes. In the rough and tumble process, Hester is knocked to the ground. The scene effectively captures her courage and willingness to risk her life for her job; a fact that later becomes paramount.

Later, we see Hester at a women's volleyball game, where her lack of adroitness hardly escapes the notice of a young player on the opposing team; Stacie Andree (Ellen Page). Sparing Hester further humiliation, Stacie gently serves the ball to her, which earns her thanks from her opponent afterward. Standing in the parking lot after the game, Stacie asks Hester for her number, which progresses to a relationship from a series of dates.

We see a little of the sexism and homophobia the two woman face in their jobs and in public as the story unfolds. In one scene, three toughs take exception to the couple's public display of affection, then aggressively demand their money, only to be driven off when Hester pulls her gun. The act takes Stacie by surprise, as Hester is forced to reveal her occupation; much to her partner's dismay.

As the two become closer, they decide to buy a house. Wells himself becomes aware of his partner's orientation one day while delivering a house-warming gift. After meeting Stacie, he becomes angry with Hester for not trusting him enough to share her personal life with him.

As the two women settle into their domestic partnership, Stacie becomes aware of a chronic pain that Hester mentions one day while the two dance in their living room. Stacie urges her to see a doctor and in a heartbreaking scene that follows, the women learn of Hester's terminal lung cancer. Undaunted by the grim news, Stacie is unfailingly optimistic until they learn Hester's condition is incurable.

Certain of the hopeless situation, the couple realize that without Hester's income, Stacie will be unable to keep the house. Recognizing her partner's need for extra income, Hester initiates the process which will allow Stacie to receive her pension. Aware that local and state laws ensure Hester can pass on her pension to a domestic partner, the women learn the Ocean City Freeholders have decided otherwise. Several bigoted members reject her formal request. Weakened by her therapy and illness, Hester makes a formal plea to the Freeholders during a public meeting, only to be rejected again.
A reporter present at the meeting writes an article on the story and as it attracts local and regional attention, a gay activist named Steven Goldstein (Steve Carell) decides to take up her cause; organizing demonstrations and flooding the Freeholder meetings with protesters.

Stacie and Hester's struggle and Goldstein's efforts are widely known and public record, so it's hard to actually spoil the ending, though I will still refrain from mentioning it here.

One would have to be heartless or Republican not to be moved by Hester and Stacie's story. It is astonishing to consider how much has changed since the story made national headlines. The fact that the Supreme Court only recently ruled that same-sex marriage is a constitutional right makes the film's arrival very timely. But though the Supreme Court's decision is a legal victory, the film shows how virulent opposition has been and is. Of course it would be difficult to not think of recent headlines while watching the movie and the controversial case of Kim Davis, which makes Hester's story all the more relevant.

But as much as the subject matter moves me, I never felt I was watching a movie. I was emotionally involved in the story but I could see little reason for the movie to be projected on a large screen when a Samsung flat-screen would serve as well.
I have no quibbles with the performances, which one would expect to be top-notch. Both Ellen Page and Julianne Moore were quite terrific as was Michael Shannon though Steve Carell seemed to belong in another movie. The scene I found to be the most powerful is Wells' appeal to his colleagues to lend their support to Hester at a crucial Freeholder meeting. To see Shannon, who concurrently plays as a stone-hearted real estate speculator in 99 Homes portray someone more sensitive is startling and refreshing.

Freeheld is so heavily character-driven, the look and direction seem to be an afterthought. Director Peter Sollett has made better movies; one of which comes to mind is Raising Victory Vargas. But it is difficult to make movies about true stories that carry a social message and make them not seem like true stories that carry a social message. Try as he might, Sollett can't elevate screenwriter Ron Nyswaner's script to something cinematically poignant, as Jonathan Demme did with his script for Philadelphia.

Despite the film's sense of urgency, it can't shake its tee-vee-ness. It will play better on DVD, which should better accommodate its low-scale, visual ambitions. If nothing else, Laurel Hester's courageous story is never trivialized or made quaint. Her struggle for equality is still gripping a decade later.

99 Homes

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Ramin Bahrani/Starring: Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield, Laura Dern, Clancy Brown and Tim Guinee

The real estate scandal that helped usher in the economic crisis in America from which we are still emerging has its culprits; all of whom will never be brought to trial or prosecuted. But the victims of said crisis are more numerous. Director Ramin Bahrani's new film; 99 Homes tells the story from the perspective of one such victim; Dennis Nash (an exceptional Andrew Garfield), who, with his mother Lynn (Laura Dern) and son Connor (Noah Lomax) find police at their door; demanding they vacate the premises. Accompanying the police is a real estate speculator named Rick Carver (a frightening Michael Shannon), who demands that Dennis and his family remove their belongings and remove themselves from the property. Carver and the police remain unmoved by the family's rage and outrage and turn a deaf ear to Dennis' pleas for more time to address the problem. Carver's callous disregard for the Nash family's problem tell us ejecting homeowners is merely business, nothing more. In an ironic development, Dennis finds himself making a deal with the devil after the Nash family is forced to take up lodgings in a motel. Unable to find work in construction, Dennis finds himself accepting Carver's offer for work after a crew refuses to clean up a house where former occupants contaminated the premises with human waste.

Dennis' position quickly evolves into the more unpalatable task of evicting homeowners. Noting Dennis' reluctance, Carver coldly lectures him about how "only winners are bailed out," and there are "only a few spaces on the ark," and offers advice about "not getting emotional about real estate."

Driven by an obsession to reclaim his family home and his desire to free his family from the unpleasant realities of motel life, Dennis involvement in Carver's real estate business grows. He quickly discovers how unsavory and unscrupulous the work can be. Carver has Dennis remove air-conditioning units and appliances from homes to decrease their value before purchasing them for a lower price. It is particularly painful to watch Dennis evict homeowners from their homes, where the tragic irony is hardly lost on him. Unlike Carver, Dennis finds his conscience and job duties clash as he sees people not unlike himself hopelessly defending their right to remain in their homes.

Shannon, who is almost peerless at playing morally-dubious sociopaths, establishes his character early on. Listening to Carver (aptly chosen name) wax cynical about his work and his cruelly dispassionate regard for those he ejects from homes, one can't help acknowledge that much of what he says also carries the stain of truth.

Though the Nash family's situation is greatly improved, Dennis refuses to tell his mother of his unholy union with his new boss.

As Carver hands Dennis ever bigger checks for his work, the sinister snares of success begin to erode his ethical reservations. He is enchanted by Carver's lush, spacious home and his boss' parties, where women and booze are bountiful.

When Lynn discovers Dennis has been working for Carver and has chosen to sacrifice their home for an upscale abode, she leaves town in disgust, with his son in tow

In time, Dennis becomes a bigger player in Carver's schemes until a major deal involving the local government becomes not only a seductively lucrative prospect but a means to more unethical and illicit behavior. The deal directly affects a homeowner of Dennis' acquaintance; who chooses to defend his home against the police and Carver after they arrive to evict him. Seeking to quell a violent situation, Dennis' conscience overcomes his greedy impulses; prompting him to divulge his deceptive role in the scheme.

The film has much to say about the greed at the core of the economic downturn and the opportunists who exploited the crisis for personal gain. Shannon's Carver reminded me of Jeremy Irons' John Tuld in 2011's Margin Call; another opportunist who sees only financial conquest in the country's economic free-fall. Where Tuld is slippery, charming and serpentine, Carver is blunt, brutal and merciless.

I think the film's singular attribute are its stars. Shannon is mesmerizing while Garfield, when free of the Spiderman costume, shows his excellent turn in The Social Network was no fluke. For what little time Laura Dern is onscreen, she proves to be quite affecting and real.

Though it seems unlikely Dennis would become Carver's henchman, it is easy to see how desperation might compromise one's ethics; transforming the oppressed into the oppressor.

Bahrani's film reminds us how government deregulation and unscrupulous lending practices by Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac left our economy in shambles. It is sobering to consider how accurate is Carver's assessment of the American capitalist system. Sometimes the devil is the greatest purveyor of truth. The stirring depiction of Carver's rapacious depredations makes 99 Homes a powerful and disquieting film.