neppie Beginning with its outrageous premise, anticipated this film could only disappoint. In every critical scene there was opportunity for it to go wrong. I expected it to turn silly, then it didn't. When I knew it would be too melodramatic or corny it didn't go there either.In particular I am critical of how the south is depicted in film. Accents are typically exaggerated with unrealistic dialog. Law enforcement is usually portrayed as incompetent and fumbling. "Elvis and Anabelle" comes close to violating all of the clichés yet never crosses the line.Finally I realized my cynical prejudgment was similar to Elvis's life disposition. What I didn't expect was this movie to inspire me.

GJ in Singapore I never heard of this movie, I guess it didn't make it into mainstream distribution. I just caught it on a movie channel today, by accident.Little Miss Sunshine was quirky and offbeat, but in a way that doesn't seem too outrageous. I think it's harder to warm to a movie about the everyday tale of a mortician, the bulimic beauty queen, and the mortician's disabled father. It's probably just me, but I was distracted by the disabled father, thinking: I hope Joe Mantegna's taken the advice of Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder, "never go full retard".Plus the bulimic beauty queen dies, the disabled father dies, the mortician's mother committed suicide a few years back, and both the mortician and the bulimic beauty queen entertain thoughts of suicide, and are shown about to act on them. There's really way too much death, and near-death, for this to make it as a mainstream movie.That said, it is touching how the mortician wakes the bulimic beauty queen with a kiss. And then, having had a near-death experience, she re-evaluates her life, and hides away with the mortician and his dad. Where, of course, love blossoms despite the complications of a mortician who kisses corpses. And the mortician realizes that even if your mom commits suicide, and your disabled dad drops dead playing golf... if you have a field of sunflowers, and get to sleep with Blake Lively, then things can't be too bad.But Lively and Minghela were cute together, and they made it a pretty entertaining and touching story. And Mantegna was good, as always, as the father, and he also had some sweet scenes with his son. Overall, better than it sounds, and better than it deserved to be. Rather than quirky, it was more bizarre and morbid... but in a good way. I enjoyed it, and I think it's good enough that it deserves a wider audience.

milenita-1 It takes a certain type of personality to enjoy this movie as much as I did. Melancholic yet hopeful, with a mystical yet romantic flair, this movie can really touch your heart especially if you're open and in the mood for your heart to be touched.I recently watched Max Minghella in The Social Network and was slightly turned off by the person he portrays but his role in Elvis & Anabelle gave me a totally different (positive) vibe. Some people might find him dark and unappealing but once knowing the goodness of his intentions and the kindness of his heart it's impossible not to like him.A whole separate review can be written about Blake Lively who is quite annoying in Gossip Girl but somehow likable at the same time and just one of those actors who you can't take your eyes off of. In fact I found Elvis & Anabelle while I was looking for more titles with Lively in them.The performance of Joe Mantegna and his relationship to the other main characters in this movie are sweet and endearing. Actually I think a lot of the amazing feeling I got by the end of the movie was due to his role in it.Overall - watch it if you haven't watched it, have no great expectations, and you might be pleasantly surprised and find yourself thinking about it for days afterwords.It's one of those movies about the small things in life that give you the most meaning. It's one of those movies that make you want to live the simple life of the main characters and make you believe you will be completely satisfied with it. Worth mentioning is also the great cinematography - many beautiful scenes like fine art photographs taken by a talented photographer.Other titles that left me with a similar hopeful and warm feeling: Waitress, The Good Girl, The Family Stone, Little Miss Sunshine.

twisted_and_derranged The people who gave this movie one star may have seen another movie.I loved it even though I hate Blake Lively to death (see Gossip Girl) because she can't even act and has an annoying voice. But in this movie she was actually decent, not great but bearable. Max Minghella is awesome as always(one of my favourite young actors) and he kinda saves the whole movie acting-wise (along with Joe Mantegna who shines as the alienated father). The plot was great and original, the directing was good but what really makes this a 10 out of 10 is the overall feeling I got. I was left with a smile on my face even though this is essentially a drama. It makes you think about things and offers a pretty optimistic view on life. Like looking on the bright side. It stuck with me and made me go and recommend it to my friends. Repeatedly. Miracles exist and this is a gem of a movie. Period.