Jailhouse Rock

Jailhouse Rock has only a fraction of the zing that an early Elvis vehicle should reasonably proffer. It's a fairly dull rags-to-riches story and little more, but one with a lead character so unsympathetic that his ultimate success and happiness leaves a decidedly sour taste. Worse still, with the exception of the iconic title number, not one of the songs is at all memorable.

Turns out all I ever needed in my life was Elvis beating the shit out of some cops.

Elvis turns into a douche, makes some forgettable music, makes it big in the industry and gets punched in the trachea. I guess describing it like that makes this sound like a pretty decent movie, maybe that's how they pitched it, but it sure ain't how they wrote it.

Fun but feels constrained, like someone tried to make the most inoffensively dark movie possible. On paper Elvis' character should be a real scumbag but Elvis can't pull it off so while he definitely comes off as an ass it seems more borne out of stupid decisions than the character's personality, even when scenes very clearly contradict the portrayal. It also has a really terrible redemption arc. Still fun despite the flaws, though.

Surprisingly ok, the story was decent, the characters pretty solid and the music of course great, that titular number truly is iconic.

Good film.

Obviously an Elvis vehicle to cash in on the star, although there are worse ones out there. The actual "Jailhouse Rock" scene was good enough, if you can make it through Presley being a real cad.

Obviously the music is fabulous, but Presley is also very convincing as a brat: looking vacant and not giving a shit most of the time. His belittling of Houghton is genuinely unsettling to watch. As we all know, the man can sing and (as the Brits would say) pull shapes.

1

The two music writers working on the film were locked by the executives in a hotel room to get the job done, as they hadn't done anything for weeks? So for 4 hours they came up with Jailhouse Rock and the rest of the music for the film. Brilliant. The film was fun. Elvis is very cheeky and easy with the eyes, although his character is not particularly likable, though he is somewhat lacking compared to the other actors' performances. Good music. It's also a sad story about Judy Tyler's passing.

A few good songs, bad film overall

One of the two best Elvis films.

(Viewed June 7, 2012). A Face in the Crowd for teenagers. Nobody's going to call this one of the best films ever made, but it sure as hell is a lot of fun. Elvis has a ton of charisma, he performs some great music, and the title number is one of the greatest things there is.

Wow, Elvis played a jerk. Kind of a Face In The Crowd story, without any reflection or much interest. I wish I would have just listened to the soundtrack.

Mignon, mais pas très intéressant. Un héros tête à claques !

Music industry is just looking how to screw with young and aspiring artists, and young artists only care about money in this film only seen today because Elvis is starring. Of course there is some kind of 'turning point' for our anti-hero, but there is no reason to see that unless you are a big fan of the man.

Plot's laughable but seems to play off like some odd sort of Greek tragedy.

I fucking love Elvis. Woo.

Wow, Elvis is pretty nasty in this one.

Campy Hollywood Elvis fun with a laughable plot, ca-razy musicalization of the title song, and a couple of good tunes. Good fun as a midnight movie.