| This movie had me, Devon and Steve happy. That's saying something, folks. Bubba Ho-tep tells the story of Elvis Presley's final days. His real final days. For you see, Elvis (Bruce Campbell) didn't die in 1977 atop his toilet, oh no. After growing tired of the fame, money and synchophants, Elvis decided to switch places with an Elivs impersonator named Sebastian Haff. When Haff dies of a heart attack, Elvis doesn't really mind as he's enjoying life as a trailer-park resident and Elvis impersonator. Until the fateful day he breakes his hip, of course. The King's twilight years are winding down at an East Texas retirement home. His days are spent sleeping, eating and having his limp/ineffectual/only in principle penis massaged by the nurse. (He has a lesion on it.) One day he and another resident, a man who believes he's JFK (played by Ossie Davis), discover a resurected mummy is feeding on the souls of the residents. It's up to Elvis and the former president to take care of business. This film is wonderful for so many reasons. Campbell turns in a performance that manages to be in turns goofy, touching and restrained. While he takes every opportunity to mine laughs out of an elderly and crotchety Elvis, he deftly brings out the melancholy and frustration of getting old. Davis is also fantastic as a black man trying to convince the world he is JFK. Elvis: "But Jack, JFK was a white man." Jack: "Can you think of a better way to cover it up?" * Funny, charming, weird and life-affirming, Bubba Ho-tep has a little something for everybody. * Dialogue is approximate. K'vitsh bears no responsibility for the accurracy of dialogue quoted in this review. It's pretty damn close, though. |
| Bubba Ho-tep (2002) |