I did hear that some bloke in the US lost consciousness because he was laughing too hard at George Costanza once though. ;)

I'm Alan Partridge (TV Series) Bravealan (2002)
 

I'm Alan Partridge (TV Series)
Bravealan (2002)
Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! He's not seen me.
"Bravealan Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham November 25, 2002
With the sad passing of Sir Terrence Wogan recently,and all the publicity that had attracted in the newspapers,I was struck by how much he resembled a certain Mr Partridge,maybe its the hair (rumor has it Terry wore a wig) ,the difference being was that Wogan was totally self aware of his persona and played on it very successfully, where as Alan Partridge totally believes in himself and his views and its everyone else who is wrong and can't understand why people do not see things the way he does.Bravealan is a classic example of Alan trying desperately to improve his social standing and friends,at the moment his only real companions is Simon Greenall as Michael,the Geordie petrol pump attendant, Amelia Bullmore as Sonja his Ukrainian girlfriend and of course the ever reliable Felicity Montagu as Lynn Benfield. So when he meets Stephen Mangan as Dan Moody the owner of "Kitchen Planet" on the A416 (road) and a fellow Lexus driver, 'Lexii' ("the plural of Lexus") and not only that they both use the same deodorant.Alan can't believe his luck when Dan invites him to attend Norfolk Bravery Awards? You know who's going to be at the Norfolk Bravery Awards? Alan can not believe his luck the chance to meet Phoebe Nicholls as Karen Colman the Grace Kelly of Norfolk, Her house is massive.They use it in Hammer Horror films. Unfortunately Karen does seem impressed with Alan and his mustard snorting and by the end of the evening Alan is left to his own devices,reduced to eating a cup of beans with a sausage on Michael's doorstep, You haven't got a spoon? Desperate to talk about granite work surface with Dan,Alan wangles his way into Dan's house only to be shown a homemade porno of Dan and his wife Jane Robbins as Ceri Moody ,Your hand is about 3O mil from my gland.Luckily Lynn comes to Alans rescue ,What do you mean? They're sex swappers! This is Defcon One. Alans attempts to better himself are very similar to Harold Steptoes attempts to improve his standing,only instead of Albert interfering,Alan usually only has himself to blame,or Micheal or Sonia or probably Lynn. Alan back firmly where he belongs in his radio studio settles back and enjoys the whimsical song by Brian and Michael. # To paint his matchstalk men and matchstick cats and dogs # Happy in the knowledge that no one is having sex while there listening to his radio show.King of Anglia!

Mutiny on the Buses (1972)

The second of Hammer's three Buses spin offs and it's now i'm starting to realize exactly whats what.

Yes, i'm starting to feel sorry for Inspector Blake. Stephen Lewis' character not only has to put up with Stan and Jack's lovable rogue routine but also the fact that they are two brainless morons to boot. See the fire drill for evidence.

As for Arthur and Olive, their roles seem to have reversed since the original film. I felt myself siding with Arthur much more as Olive came across like a demented baboon in a frilly blue nightie.

The bulk of the film isn't as funny as the previous years effort but the final 20 minutes at the safari park more than make up for it as Stan and Blakey find their bus invaded by lions and chimps. It amused me that Reg Varney was clearly playing to the script with the chimp at the steering wheel, whereas Lewis was sat down just amusing himself with his chimp and having a bit of fun.

Great review, but I'm worried that a certain somebody is getting all dressed up with nowhere to go after reading the line 'A demented baboon in a blue frilly nightie'. :nod:

The Magic Christian (1969)
 

The Magic Christian (1969)
Im fairly sure that when it came out The Magic Christian was considered pretty far out and wild,and even today it still stands as a bizarre eclectic and episodic movie.Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers) decides to adopt homeless Ringo Starr,so after a ceremony which resembles,registry office wedding Ringo becomes Youngman Grand.After this they decide to play extravagant jokes on people,mainly exploiting peoples greed and satirising capitalism,although not in very subtle way.The Magic Christian has a certain Pythonesque feel to it,which is no surprise considering John Cleese and Graham Chapman had written an early script,but only there scenes that they appear in are left from there version of the script.Magic Christian has an incredibly massive array of cameo appearances from pretty much every famous actor from that time,ranging from Hattie Jacques as Ginger Horton,Laurence Harvey as Hamlet,Spike Milligan as Traffic warden #27 and Yul Brynner as Transvestite cabaret singer just to name a few. Problem is that there is no actual story,it just has Sellers and Ringo going from one absurd scenario to another.Its the episodic nature of the film and the lack of a decent narrative that really hurts the film. There's plenty of satire on money,war and the wealthy classes,but its done so heavy handedly that any humour is lost,and it just comes across as rather pretentious. It has none of the clever satire of say Lindsay Anderson's films like If (1968) and its follow ups O Lucky Man!(1973) and Britannia Hospital(1982) which even today still are clever and funny and some instances still has the power to shock.The Magic Christian (1969) is not a total loss,Peter Sellers is still on top form as the eccentric billionaire,and Ringo Starr hasn't really got to do much apart from being himself really,which he does very well.The film is notable for the song "Come and Get It" by Badfinger,which crops up throughout the film.The Magic Christian is one of most eccentric films from the late 1960's,that your ever likely to see,its just a shame its not as clever or as funny as it thinks it is.

Take Raquel out of the film and it's a complete waste of time. ;)

With Roman Polanski!

That is pretty good scene actually,when I first saw the film i would never of guessed it was Yul.

As a huge Monty Python fan, and lover of the projects most of the Pythons made before and afterwards (Fawlty Towers, Ripping Yarns, Brazil etc.), I'm ashamed to say I have never seen this film. Despite your less-than-glowing opinion of it, and the comments underneath, I've added it to my Lovefilm rental queue – I owe it to myself.

Yeah its worth a watch,John Cleese and Graham Chapman have two scenes, John Cleese as Mr. Dugdale (director in Sotheby's) and Graham Chapman as Oxford crewman (uncredited) like Dem says you also got Raquel Welch as Priestess of the Whip and Christopher Lee as Ship's vampire.

Not a film but this seemed the best place to put this news.


BBC Shows and Tours - Shows - Are You Being Served?

The true sign of a classic line is when it enters into pop culture, and people know what is being referred to!

Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. (1948)

I bet you were posting those through gritted teeth, Dem. ;)

BILL
 

This past me by a film by the creators of the BBC's Horrible Histories,looks good.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te9Ym32JqnU

Attachment 176615Attachment 176616

The Flying Deuces (1939)
 

The Flying Deuces (1939)
Stan and Ollie are holidaying in France together as usual staying in a local Inn.Yet again Oliver falls in love, this time with innkeepers daughter Georgette.But his affections and marriage proposal are spurned because Georgette is already married to Foreign Legion officer Francois. Taking the news badly love lorn Oliver decides to commit suicide,a slight over reaction me thinks,considering he hardly knew her. Meanwhile a shark has escaped and has managed to get out of its aquarium WTF . So Stan and Ollie trundle on down to the local docks,with the intention of Ollie throwing himself into the water tied to a bloody great big stone,in the hope of killing himself. Unfortunately for Stan little does he know that Ollie expects him to join him in his watery demise also. Ollie's attempt at suicide is a failure no doubt hindered by the shark eating a paddle and its finn molesting Ollie's bottom. The duo are talked out of suicide by a passing Foreign legion officer,who turns out to be Georgette's husband,and are convinced the only way to forget about his broken heart is to join the French Foreign legion. While no where near in the same league as the Hal Roach produced short films, The Flying Deuces (1939) does have its moments and on the whole a fairly entertaining way of spending an hour. There are some rather bizarre plot points,the duo endlessly discuss reincarnation (obviously building up to the finale) where Stan says he wound come back as himself and Ollie deciding he would rather return as a horse. Also Oliver's rather morbid decision to kill himself over Georgette seems completely barmy. And if all of this seems rather familiar to you,then this is because its basically a remake of the vastly superior 1931 short film Beau Hunks.Not what I would call classic Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy but certainly a nice look at some of there earlier non Hal Roach stuff.
As Laurel and Hardy did not have an exclusive contract with Hal Roach, they were able to appear in films for studios other than his as they pleased.

Oliver: Stanley, a miracle has happened. I've completely forgotten.

Stanley: You mean you've forgotten Georgette?

Oliver: Who's Georgette?

Stanley: That's swell, now we can go home.

Nice review, Inspector.

Royal Flash 1975. One of my favourite films of all time!

Starring Malcolm McDowell as Flashy, Alan Bates as Rudi, an Hungarian adventurer, Florinda Bolkan as Lola Montez an 'entertainer', Britt Ekland, Oliver Reed as Otto von Bismarck and many British character actors including Joss Ackland, Lionel Jeffries, Alastair Sim and Sir Michael Hordern. It even has Henry Cooper as a boxing champ (Cooper's voice was dubbed over for some reason). Now, there's a cast for you.

An adaptation of George MacDonald Fraser's book of the same name, it's a 19th century romp with the most cowardly of English heroes Harry Flashman who gets roped into a dodgy scheme of Bismarck's to gain a strategically important Duchy to incorporate into his new Reich. Our man Harry has to impersonate the Prince who is supposed to be marrying the widowed Duchess (a ravishing Britt Ekland). Harry is told that the real Prince has a dose of clap - the reality is a bit more complex than that and ends in a pastiche of one of Dumas's better known swashbucklers.

It's played for laughs and as well as a cast to die for, has a really good and quotable script.

Lola Montez to Flashman "Call yourself a man!"

Flashman, "I never did!"

Flashman to a supposed child-hood friend who could potentially unmask him "Spring! Where did you Eric from!"

Flashman to Britt Ekland "You're the nicest piece of tumble i've seen in ages."

"Ain't the doggies got the boar yet?"

Too many zingers to bore you with!

Watch it.

The Bullshitters: Roll out the Gunbarrel (1984)
 

The Bullshitters: Roll Out The Gunbarrel

Ex-agents Bonehead (Keith Allen) and Foyle (Peter Richardson) are recalled back into action when Commander Jackson (Robbie Coltrane) head of D15,daughter is kidnapped and held for ransom by a couple of disgruntled Pub entertainers.While being out of the service for a while Bonehead (Keith Allen) has been running a TV Tough guy school called KNOBS,teaching actors how to play policeman on the television.Mean while Foyle (Peter Richardson) has been acting in kitchen sink melodramas on the stage.Unwilling to re-join D15 ,because of the lack of fast car and guns,Bonehead and Foyle are blackmailed by Commander Jackson with some rather compromising pictures of them affected by the gay serum from there last mission. As pastiches go,this really hits the nail on the head,The Comic Strip Presents sends up the series The Professionals, whether it was done out of contempt for the original series or out fondness they cover pretty much every conceivable stereotype and hackneyed action sequence.In fact when you see Bonehead and Foyle running around bare chested and carrying a gun,chasing down some armed villains,actually does happen in A Hiding to Nothing when Martin Shaw as Doyle chases some villains across some scaffolding only in his jeans and hairy chest and his trusty gun to protect him. Bonehead (Keith Allen) and Foyle (Peter Richardson) are especially great,both the characters and actors are spot on,in there characterisations.And the rumoured homoerotic relationship of the two tough guys are well and truly explored when Bonehead finally cracks and admits his love for Foyle. The Comic Strip Presents was probably the most successful comedy shows on channel Four in there peak era,and although there were a few hit and miss episodes in the long running series,The Bulshitters was and is easily one of the best in the series. The duo would return in Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown.

A Tribute to On the Buses - Elstree Studios Event 2016
 

A Tribute to On the Buses - Elstree Studios Event 2016

Come and celebrate some of the Best of British big screen hit sitcoms at the home to many of the great cinema versions of small screen comedy classics.

The day comprises two sessions:

From 2-5pm

A Tribute to On the Buses – all three OTB films were made at Elstree

Come and join Anna Karen (Olive) & Andria Lawrence (Turnaround Betty) along with the films’ Executive Producer Roy Skeggs and a host of cast and crew for an EXCLUSIVE screening of previously UNSEEN interviews with Reg Varney, Stephen Lewis & Anna Karen, the screening of some classic On the Buses moments and question & answer sessions with the guests. And there’ll be a signing session too.

Sitcom Heaven

Are you going, Inspector?

Probably not,But might be handy for anyone nearby.

Three Amigos (1986)
 

Three Amigos (1986)

Thank god Steve Martin made this film,otherwise I was never going to forgive him for re-making the Pink Panther movies. Steve Martin as Lucky Day ,Chevy Chase as Dusty Bottoms and Martin Short as Ned Nederlander are pretty well suited to these affable and likeable characters who get mistaken for real cowboy heroes.Plot wise its just a variation on the Magnificent Seven,with a dose of Looney Tunes silliness for good measure.What's kind of amusing is the way Lucky Day, Dusty Bottoms, and Ned Nederlander are portrayed as very camp and lame actors up against there more violent counterparts of Alfonso Arau as El Guapo and his band of Mexican bandits. Luckily the silliness isn't just restricted to the Three Amigos,as El Guapo and his men celebrate Guapo's 40th birthday party in plenty of style with a plethora of piñatas on display. Unusually its a fairly family orientated comedy with only a couple of risqué jokes,with none of the Blazing Saddles style type of debauchery you might of expected.In fact even for a John Landis style comedy its fairly restrained,so definitely one you can watch in front of Gran and Grandad without offending anyone. If your looking for say an antidote to Quentin Tarantino's Hateful Eight,then you could certainly do no worse than re-watching Three Amigos,in fact you couldn't find two westerns more poles apart.In an alternative universe where Steven Spielberg was to direct this film the title roles were to be played by Bill Murray, Robin Williams and Rick Moranis if Martin Short had not been available,so says the internet.And If that doesn't grab your imagination then seeing our trio singing "My little Buttercup has the sweetest smile/ Dear little Buttercup, won't you stay a while?/ We'll settle down together in a cottage built for two/ Oh, Dear little Buttercup, I love you! "

Three Amigos is one of the comedy greats.

I saw both it and Blazing Saddles again quite recently and felt the Amigos stood up better than Saddles. There seemed to be too much Mel Brooks waffle in Blazing Saddles. Even so it still has the best line from either film.

'You'd do it for Randolph Scott'.

I saw Blazing Saddles recently and thought it was brilliant, but haven't seen The Three Amigos in at least 20 years, so I've just bought it from Amazon.

Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door
 

Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door.

Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson are seemingly in Dangerous Brother mode,although no names are mentioned other than that they are a pair male escorts whose company is called Dreamytime Escorts,and who's one mission in life is to get pissed,but at somebody else's expense.As they constantly looking for foreign tourists to entertain while fleece them of there money by dragging them around London's pubs.But who is the mysterious neighbour played by Peter Cook as Mr Jolly,someone who borrows a lot of washing up liquid and has very bloody windows to clean. Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson are in fantastic form in this Stephen Frears directed comedy,which occasionally feels like some bizarre 1960's-1970's ITV detective series like Jason KIng or Randall and Hopkirk.Rik looks suitably sleazy with his greasy slick down hair and leather coat,while Ade is the rather stupider of the two,if that's at all possible. The pair inhabit a bizarre world of London drinking dens,fighting with severed arms in the mortuary and occasionally mugging school boys for there lunch money. But they are yet to reach the pinnacle of there escorting career,which comes in the form of an evening entertaining Nicholas Parsons.Although when they are accidently asked to take him out,by gangster Peter Richardson as Mr Lovebucket,who thought he was hiring Mr Jolly,going out for drinkies was not quite the taking out he had in mind . While not the most complex of story lines,(buy hey who needs it) Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door. is a fast paced road runner style comedy,that would be the pairs signature characteristic throughout there Bottom Tv series.Its also has some great performances from the late great Peter Cook as the homicidal neighbour and also Nicholas Parsons as Himself for being such a good sport,while being surrounded by the mayhem.One of the best from the Comic Strip Presents.

Attachment 179383

"Just because my name's Jolly, doesn't mean I have to be f**king jolly"

"Elephant and castle, stick it up yer a**hole"

Dad's Army (2016)
 

Dad's Army (2016)

On the whole I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH REMAKES ,lets be honest remakes are for the stupider generation that came after you that were not around to appreciate the original in the first place,and if the remake is shit then to bad,Ill just go back and watch the original.So i went in with an open mind and open heart with the Dads Army remake,the trailers seem to be ok,the cast seem to fit the bill and on the whole it had the whiff of being quite good.Toby Jones as Captain Mainwaring was very good,instead of just copying the late great Arthur lowe,Toby Jones managed to give a nice understated performance..Bill Nighy as Sergeant Wilson was born to play this role he has all the qualities John Le Mesurier had,and is probably the better actor,so how the hell did he manage to cock it up,where as John Le Mesurier 's Sgt. Arthur Wilson was a little bumbling and slightly posh and even a hit with the ladies,Le Mesuriers performance was always on the back foot and his character just sorted drifted along in life.Bill Nighy Sergeant Wilson is slightly arrogant and is aware of his womanising charms.As for the rest of the cast,well there given the roles but none of them seem to be playing there parts with any conviction or enthusiasm.I would say most of the blame have to be levelled and the writer Hamish McColl,Where were the jokes? I could not remember any time during the film I actually smiled or laughed and for a comedy film based on a classic sitcom then there has got to be a problem .Mainwarings main rival in the TV show was the brilliant Bill Pertwee as Chief Warden Hodges,who's persistent antagonism towards Mainwairing was always a fun part of the show.In fact Hodges is in the film played by Martin Savage,and although he is only in about two scenes there was a definite potential for some good screen chemistry.On the whole this was a major disappointment for me,im a big Dads Army and a fan of Toby Jones,but where were the laughs?there was none just another missed opportunity gone.

I saw Dad's Army at the cinema and really enjoyed it, despite its shortcomings. I thought the cast were uniformly very good and owned their roles without mimicking or impersonating the original actors. In terms of the antagonist for Captain Mainwaring, I thought it was Wilson who tended to undermine his authority and frustrate his ambitions to spend time with Rose. The scene with Wilson, Mainwaring, and Pike in Rose's cottage was pure farce and funnier for it.

For me, most of the laughs came from Godfrey's sisters, Cissy and Dolly, and the relationships between the men, particularly everyone having to accommodate Godfrey (superbly essayed by Michael Gambon).

I felt it has the right mix of originality and homage and is something I could quite happily watch again.

Well I totally disagree,I could not find a joke amongst the dire plot,Its almost like we watched different films.

It's likely because comedy is extremely subjective, with some people liking clever wordplay, others preferring physical humour, or 'dick and fart' humour. People like different sorts of jokes, from limericks to puns, rambling stories which are funny in their delivery, or satire and parody.

To put it in a more concise way, it's horses for courses.

Billy Liar drains the life out of being Jones. Nighy impersonates Le Mesurier...badly. Only watched it for Toby Jones, and, well, there you go. Remake Love Thy Neighbour with Tom Hardy and Idris Elba says I ha ha

I like all sorts of comedy as well. From WC Fields to Four Lions......;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWtXB0HB1ss

From Wikipedia:

"The Stolen Jools (1931) is a short comedy film produced by the Masquers Club of Hollywood, featuring many cameo appearances by the film stars of the day. The stars appeared in the film, distributed by Paramount Pictures, to raise funds for the National Vaudeville Artists Tuberculosis Sanitarium. The UCLA Film and Television Archive entry for this film says—as do the credits—that the film was co-sponsored by Chesterfield cigarettes to support the "fine work" of the NVA sanitarium.

When the film was shown in theaters in 1931, a person would appear after the film to ask the audience for donations. Because the film was made for charity, it has an unusually large cast of actors from various studios in addition to Paramount, such as Warner Bros., RKO, MGM, and Hal Roach Studios.

This film was known by the name The Slippery Pearls in the United Kingdom, and was thought to be a lost film until a print was found in the UK in the 1990s. Another print was later found in the US under the alternate title."

What a cast list, as noted in the closing credits:

At the Police Station
Wallace Beery
Buster Keaton
Jack Hill
J. Farrell MacDonald
Edward G. Robinson
George E. Stone

The Law
Eddie Kane
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

At the Victim’s House
Our Gang: (Farina, Stymie, Chubby, Mary Ann Jackson, Shirley Jean Rickert, Echo, Wheezer, Pete the Pup)
Polly Moran
Norma Shearer
Hedda Hopper

Tete-a-Tete
Joan Crawford
William Haines

On the Porch Swing
Dorothy Lee

At Breakfast
Victor McLaglen
Edmund Lowe
El Brendel

In the Hotel
Charlie Murray
George Sidney
Winnie Lightner
Fifi D'Orsay
Warner Baxter
Irene Dunne

At Lunch
Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey

In the Movie Studio
Richard Dix
Claudia Dell
Lowell Sherman

The Newsmen
Eugene Pallette
Stuart Erwin
Skeets Gallagher
Gary Cooper
Wynne Gibson
Buddy Rogers

The Detective
Maurice Chevalier

Under the Tree
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Loretta Young
Richard Barthelmess
Charles Butterworth

Couples at Home
Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon
Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay

In a Movie Scene
Jack Oakie and Fay Wray

Projectionist
George "Gabby" Hayes

The Midget
Little Billy (Billy Rhodes)

Mystery solved by
Mitzi Green

(Uncredited)
Joe E. Brown
Robert Ames
Bert Lytell

Born on October 20th, 1882 - Margaret Dumont, described by Groucho as being 'practically the fifth Marx Brother'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6jmc-qY9Rw

She really was. She sold nearly every one of Groucho's jokes with her performances. She is the perfect example of Krusty's guide to comedy: "The pie gag's only funny when the sap's got dignity!"

Born on October 22nd, 1903 - Curly Howard

"Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk"
"Woo, woo, woo!"
"A WISE Guy, Eh?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9rwF2khUIY

Laughing Gravy ( 04 April 1931)
 

LAUGHING GRAVY.


Attachment 184094

Its a snowy landscape,but Stan and Ollie are all warm and cosy in bed,while outside the snow keeps coming,every thing is fine until Stan gets the hiccups and not only wakes Ollie up but poor old Laughing Gravy as well.Of course being a Laurel and Hardy film nothing is that simple,especially when there landlord is hard put upon Charlie Hall,obviously having Stan and Ollie as tenants is enough to drive any one mad.Then again I kind of feel sorry for Laughing Gravy,the poor pooch is not only turfed out of the house into the cold but also manages to get himself on the roof of the house,clever dog manages to climb up the inside of the chimney.Also incredibly Gravy seems to have a rather bushy black moustache.Laughing Gravy is a classic film,but its not chock full of gags,but it is very nicely paced film,with plenty of stand out moments,see Ollie impersonate Gravy in the flower bushes only to get a flower pot thrown at him,at first he cries in agony.then he instantly remembers he is supposed to be a dog and starts yelping.And it also has a great moment of pathos,Stan receives a letter telling him he has to leave Ollie if he wants to inherit a $1000,obviously Stan is stricken,he with holds the letter from Ollie,which leads to Ollie tormenting Stan with a song.Eventually Stan caves in and lets Ollie read the note,to say that Ollie is crest fallen would be an understatement.its a nice moment when Ollie realises its been him holding Stan back,not the other way around,as he had assumed so may times,sad and rather touching,While the boys are as usual excellent , Laughing Gravy the dog deserves a big mention,he looks completely non-plussed by all the antics also the great Charlie Hall,is also fantastic,he really is put through the ringer by the duo and there dog,and is very funny throughout the film.

Elvis & Nixon (2016)
 

Elvis & Nixon (2016)

It has to be said that fact is always stranger than fiction,and none more so than the time Elvis Aron Presley met Richard Nixon on December 21, 1970. There is probably a million untold stories about both of these two gentlemen,But when the two collided, history seems to have taken a turn for the very weird indeed.The early 1970's in America was a tremendous tumultuous period in its history,race riots,students rioting against Vietnam war,Woodstock and the rise of The Black Panthers and the rise of drug use,are all incendiary and divisive issues. And a certain Mr Presley wants to tackle all these issues,and be sworn in as an undercover agent for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.I mean this comes as no surprise to me,considering his love of karate and guns,although I fail to see how the single most famous person on the planet was ever going to be able to go undercover,wearing a jump suit and gold rimmed sunglasses.As for Nixon himself,the history books will never paint him kindly,but after Oliver Stones Nixon with Anthony Hopkins and now Kevin Spacey in Elvis & Nixon,the cinema has portrayed him quite favourably,well at least honestly,which is probably quite unexpected considering his past misdemeanours.While the film is never laugh out loud rolling in the aisles funny,it manages to look at this rather bizarre incident with a wry smile,and never sends up its two lead characters,there both portrayed with there good and bad points,even though both of them are very idiosyncratic characters who tend to act in some bizarre parallel world to the rest of us.Both Kevin Spacey as President Richard Nixon and Michael Shannon as singer Elvis Presley, are absolutely fantastic,there performances really raise the bar for biographical films.You may be disappointed if your looking for a Bruce Cambell style portrayal,Shannon really inhabits the skin of the King in a much more realistic fashion.Special mentions for Alex Pettyfer as Jerry Schilling,Presley best friend and a rather subdued Johnny Knoxville as Sonny West,both are rather good as part of the Kings mafia.Like I said this is a great comedy/drama that relies on the chemistry of the characters rather than jokes or one liners.