{"id":597,"date":"2014-08-29T05:49:15","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T05:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/?p=597"},"modified":"2014-08-29T06:07:17","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T06:07:17","slug":"the-identical-is-not-as-good-as-the-original","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2014\/08\/the-identical-is-not-as-good-as-the-original.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Identical\u2019 is Not as Good as the Original"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Blake<\/a>
Blake Rayne, Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta star in “The Identical.” (City of Peace Films)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I used to think that Elvis impersonators didn\u2019t arrive on the scene until late in the King\u2019s career, but apparently they have been around since the mid \u201850s. The first was Carl \u2018Cheesie\u2019 Nelson who did his own versions of \u201cThat\u2019s All Right, Mama\u201d and \u201cBlue Moon of Kentucky\u201d and even sang with Elvis in 1954. It\u2019s all documented in the book, \u201cElvis in Texas\u201d by Stanley Oberst and Lori Torrance. Oh, the things you learn on Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The above story might have made for a better story than The Identical<\/em><\/a> did. That movie has a similar-themed story. In real life, Elvis was born with a twin brother, Jesse who died shortly after childbirth. Or did he?<\/p>\n

The Identical<\/em> is a pretend story of \u201cwhat if.\u201d All of the names have been changed, but it is basically a story about what would have happened if Elvis\u2019 brother had lived and had been raised by another family.<\/p>\n

This story begins during the Great Depression with the Hemsley\u2019s, a poor couple expecting their first child. However, it is during the birth that the new parents learn that they have two sons, Drexel and Ryan. Convinced that they would not be able to afford to raise both boys, the Hemsleys offer up Ryan, for adoption to a traveling pastor and his wife. They make Rev. Reece Wade (Ray Liotta) and Louise (Ashley Judd) promise that they will not tell Ryan that he was adopted until his natural parents have passed away.<\/p>\n

As time goes on, Reece is convinced that his son is destined to further his ministry. Ryan (Blake Rayne) tries to follow his father\u2019s plan, but it becomes clear soon on that he has a gift for music and singing. It doesn\u2019t help that this new rock star comes on the scene, Drexel Hemsley (also Rayne) looking and sounding exactly like himself. Ryan becomes Drexel\u2019s #1 fan and ends up pursuing a career where he imitates the singing legend and becomes known as The Identical.<\/p>\n

Despite the fact that the story is far-fetched, it starts out pretty good. In fact, the first third is probably the best section of the movie. Liotta and Judd are fantastic as the preacher and his dutiful wife. One scene in particular is priceless where the pastor is interrupted in his study by Louise who comes in with the latest copy of Drexel Hemsley\u2019s\u00a0 new record. Without saying a word, she purses her lips, puts her hand on her hip and tilts her head to say, \u201cWhat do we do now?\u201d The two age gracefully throughout the film and are reason enough to see it.<\/p>\n

However, star power isn\u2019t enough to make a good story great. The film does all right when it keeps a light-hearted tone, but begins to flounder when it insists on becoming a drama. In addition, as the characters age and the fashion styles start to look out of control, so does the story. The movie puts all its energy in Ryan\u2019s character and we only see glimpses of his brother\u2019s life. The two DO meet, but it is only for a moment, and that is a disappointment.<\/p>\n

\"Seth<\/a>
Seth Green really plays the drums in “The Identical.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rayne, who is an Elvis impersonator in real life, does okay for this first feature film and having Seth Green play his best friend was an inspired choice. He actually plays the drums himself in the movie, which is pretty impressive. Also impressive is the fact that the film, which is not a musical, features over 20 original songs, all sounding like they were written by Elvis.<\/p>\n

Promotion for the film has been odd as well. All over the internet there have been ads that will feature a character from the movie and say, \u201cAshely Judd\u2026in a Christian movie!\u201d or \u201cSeth Green\u2026in a Christian movie!\u201d Apparently the Marcellino family who wrote, directed and produced the movie thought that promoting the stars instead of the story was the way to get Christians to see a faith-based movie. We\u2019ll see if it works, but I suspect Christians would be more interested to know that the film has a few good messages in it including that you can be a singer and still be following the will of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I used to think that Elvis impersonators didn\u2019t arrive on the scene until late in the King\u2019s career, but apparently they have been around since the mid \u201850s. The first was Carl \u2018Cheesie\u2019 Nelson who did his own versions of \u201cThat\u2019s All Right, Mama\u201d and \u201cBlue Moon of Kentucky\u201d and even sang with Elvis in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":558,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[585,581,584,105,580,583,579],"class_list":["post-597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies","tag-ashley-judd","tag-blake-rayne","tag-elvis","tag-movie-review","tag-ray-liotta","tag-seth-green","tag-the-identical"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018The Identical\u2019 is Not as Good as the Original - Peanuts and Popcorn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2014\/08\/the-identical-is-not-as-good-as-the-original.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018The Identical\u2019 is Not as Good as the Original - Peanuts and Popcorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I used to think that Elvis impersonators didn\u2019t arrive on the scene until late in the King\u2019s career, but apparently they have been around since the mid \u201850s. 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