MovieChat Forums > The Identical (2014) Discussion > I worked on this movie, and...

I worked on this movie, and...

posted 9 years ago by Jenova_Project
4 replies | jump to latest

...It was a disaster even before release. I won't go too detailed into what my role was but I was actively involved for the better part of 8 months on the project in the post stage. Although I enjoyed working on the movie and the people involved were good, here were my experiences:

-I saw at least 7 cuts over those months that were extremely different from each other. The filmmakers were often picking apart things that were non-essential to the quality of the movie
-After the first big edit and sound mix, they hosted a screening for friends, family, and colleagues that performed disastrously. Everything that critics pointed out, the audience mentioned:
-The religious aspects intrigued people but was so much of a sideplot that they could not figure how it factored in
-A lot were confused on when Drexel and Ryan were onscreen
-The lack of a meeting between brothers
-Even some of the music was criticized
-Yes, people did mention about it being a non-Elvis biopic with a guy who clearly looks like him

In fact, I can't even remember if a positive thing was mentioned. Anyway, no disrespect to the filmmakers. Just what I observed. They are the nicest, most down-to-earth people I know. I just hope they take in more suggestions and refine their scripts better for future projects.

[–] P42 9 years ago

So what did you see as the motivations of the producers, writers and director for making this movie? Was it something people genuinely believed in or was it an attempt to create some kind of underground hit? It's such a jumble of various ideas... is that because people wanted to include certain things they believed in AND make it appealing, or because "kind of religious movie that is kind of about Elvis" really made sense to some people?

I really want the podcast "How did this get made" to discuss this movie. Because I just keep wondering... how? Why?

And the music was baffling, yeah. Some of the earliest songs were quite similar to Elvis songs, but then later on it becomes *way* too modern, including even the song that Ryan sings to their mother. And the song he composes himself to memorize the Psalm!

So in testing, I assume they tried to get some Evangelical Christians in, as this movie desperately attempts to pander to them. Did they like it? Because on the other hand, it seems that there's also astonishingly little about the actual life of Christians in the movie, and the "religious message" is quite flimsy. And perhaps most importantly, the only character with a clear religious drive, Ray Liotta, ends up having to apologize for all he tried to do... in a way the story is almost anti-religious, did anyone feel that way? Or were people just relieved not to be made fun of?

I hope this has taught you kids a lesson: kids never learn. Chief Wiggum

[–] Jenova_Project 9 years ago

All really good questions. I cannot speak for them, since I have not been affiliated with the movie in years. Here is my conjecture though:

I think they were trying to appeal to EVERYONE, and that's where they really shot themselves in the face.

Foremost, whenever a non-studio backed film comes out, in my experience, the producers and directors desperately wanted to appeal to a younger crowd. I think there was some temptation to do that with the soundtrack being the way it was.

Honestly, I think everyone who wasn't part of their family (if you look in the credits, a LOT of the producers have the same last name) was a little diffident in asking them about the Elvis aspect. When you consider that the whole premise of the film rest on the "What if Elvis' brother had lived" idea, I think they felt, 'Eh, it's different enough. No one will care.' They originally had an opening song that was SO modern sounding that I think they realized it and took it out.

The name of their production company is City of Peace, and they seem to be moderately concerned with religious politics. I believe they also had screenings in religious southern cities near Memphis to appeal to that crowd. I think the Ray Liotta epiphany and the irony of that was lost on them. I can't remember if this is in the final cut of the film, but there was originally a V.O. from Jenny, the wife, talking about how Ryan's career was all "God's plan." When I said that the test audience really didn't understand the Seven-Day War and religious subplots, I mean they REALLY did not get it. I can tell you that I have seen this movie 20 times in its entirety, and I still don't completely understand what the religious message was supposed to be. I think religion in films can be good and refreshing, but I definitely think they tried to shoehorn it in.

TLDR I have no idea what they were thinking. I think they just through in a bunch of religious subplots, songs, and Elvis undertones to see what would stick.

Make no mistake. As much as I criticize this film, I feel the impact of it too. I spent many hours working on this movie. It broke my heart too when the reviews and box office came in. It made me feel like I wasted my time working on it.

[–] P42 9 years ago

So they tried to make it popular with many different people, and that's one of the reasons it's such a mess. That makes sense. I was thinking about Seth Green's character in particular, who just seems tonally completely off from most of the rest of the movie. But I guess they tried to make the movie more cool by including him, and not being very judgmental about him.

As to whether this movie can be legitimately criticized for the way it's religious, I suppose so. More importantly it's just an incoherent badly scripted movie though. It's not bad because it's religious, it's simply bad.

The Seven Day War reference is pretty bizarre though.

I hope this has taught you kids a lesson: kids never learn. Chief Wiggum

[–] Jenova_Project 9 years ago

One thing I wanna add is I don't understand why people who are upset that a "Christian" film made so little money and got bad reviews. If you can create a movie about anything that has interesting characters, a tightly written plot, and good pacing, nobody will give a crap what the origin of the movie is.

The religious aspects are so lazily tacked on and poorly developed in this movie that I think people are right to criticize it as a "religious" film.