ReelBob: ‘The Issue with Elvis’ ★★

By Bob Bloom

Perhaps my character is flawed, but I just could not connect with “The Issue with Elvis.”

It just felt so superficial. It’s basically a two-character piece and both seem defined by their situations. They lack depth and even a little complexity.

The movie is a low-budget family affair. It is written and directed by Charlotte Wincott and stars her husband, character actor Jeff Wincott, and their son, Wolfgang.

Despite the subject matter — a solitary man begins taking care of a young boy who is on his own — you cannot get emotionally involved.

Perhaps it’s Charlotte Wincott’s dialogue; at times the two characters don’t sound as if they were talking like an adult and a child — even a smart one.

The elder Wincott plays Dr. Michael Mercer, a retired botanist who lives a semi-isolated life in a cabin outside of Morgantown, WV. Mercer is an expert in fungi who collects various kinds of mushrooms. He later isolates and extracts various compounds from them to use in his research to help combat cancers as well as ease his rheumatoid arthritis.

The movie, though touching, has a few setbacks. At the outset, Mercer is presented as a loner, a man who seems to enjoy his solitary lifestyle and near isolation. We know he has a big heart because he readily agrees to write a reference for one of his former students.

But his embracing of and willingness to accept Elvis so quickly and easily seems more a plot contrivance than reality.

Wolfgang Wincott’s Elvis doesn’t seem to be phased by his circumstances — living alone in an abandoned bus after his mentally ill father has been placed in a facility for burning down their home.

Elvis does not seem to be suffering any trauma, which for a child as young as he appears, seems inconceivable and false. And, when he speaks, his sentences are like that of a young adult rather than a boy whose life has been thrown into limbo.

As an actor, the young Wincott, at times, stumbles over some of his dialogue, which makes his character seem more naturalistic.

Still events seem to transpire too quickly and neatly in “The Issue with Elvis.” A little more drama or conflict, especially between Mercer and Elvis, would have raised the movie’s plausibility and acceptance.

“The Issue with Elvis” is a family project built on love, but it needed more substance and heart.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

THE ISSUE WITH ELVIS
2 stars out of 4
Not rated