Elvis & Nixon (15)
three stars
Dir: Liza Johnson
With: Kevin Spacey, Michael Shannon
Runtime: 86 minutes
HERE’S what we know. Elvis asked for a meeting with Tricky Dicky. A photograph of said get-together is the most requested picture from the US National Archives. Everything in between is where Liza Johnson’s intriguing but ultimately unsatisfying picture, based on the recollections of a Nixon aide at the time, comes in. The performances, from Michael Shannon as the King and Kevin Spacey as the President, cannot be faulted, even if Shannon’s lack of resemblance to Elvis takes a lot of getting used to, and the depiction of White House protocol is amusing in a West Wing sort of way. But even though the running time is a brisk 86 minutes, the idea feels stretched beyond its limits.
The Secret Life of Pets (U)
four stars
Dirs: Yarrow Cheney, Chris Renaud
Voices: Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper
Runtime: 91 minutes
OR what your pet gets up to when you are at work. It would not do for the purposes of a blockbuster animation for them to nap away the day, so Hollywood has come up with another idea. Here, petite Max (voiced by Louis CK) has a perfect life with his owner in New York until she rescues Duke, a big lummox. A falling out between the two leads to a day of mayhem in which they run into an animal liberation movement run by a psychotic bunny (Kevin Hart) and plenty of other surprises. Funny, packed with thrills, and cute.
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