Great movie with realistic storyline. Ryan Pelton shines as both twins and shows off his musical and acting talents.

An unmitigated disaster. I was curious to compare it to the film that was actually about Elvis. This. Was. A. Mistake. The premise was interesting and that's where anything remotely valuable ends. Do yourself a huge favor and sit in a dark room imagining what would have happened had Elvis' twin survived. This will be infinitely more entertaining and productive than watching this film. I rarely write reviews but this movie was so bad that I feel compelled. From the story, to the writing, to the performances, it was all just embarrassing. So full of cliches that one could mistake it for a parody film if you didn't know better. Writers have to do better. Producers have to choose better. Directors have to do better. Actors, well actors would read the ingredients from a cereal box if you paid them, but they didn't even try to make their craptacular characters believable. Folks - in everyday life, speaking is nothing more than organizing the emotions you feel into recognizable sounds that we can words. That's what language is: emotion that you can hear. These performances contained zero authentic emotion. They were acting. The veterans who are great actors were collecting a paycheck and the unknowns were super psyched to be in a "real" movie with "big" stars but forgot to behave authentically under imaginary circumstances and tried to just "act." It went badly for everyone involved.

It's nice to watch a good movie without all the usually required sex scenes, cursing, and drugs. It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon movie.

The critics got it wrong. This is an enjoyable movie. The acting is good and the script is ok. Sure, the ending is predictable, but the scenes keep you interested. It's not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.

Would be better if they used actual Elvis songs. But a good "what if" movie.

The identical starts off pretty good with an interesting story that unfortunately by the end delivers no pay off. The movie feels like a Christian movie and then a hard rock Elvis impersonator movie the other half. The movie is a little over long. I enjoyed the message but I wish the execution was better.

The identical starts off pretty good with an interesting story that unfortunately by the end delivers no pay off. The movie feels like a Christian movie and then a hard rock Elvis impersonator movie the other half. The movie is a little over long. I enjoyed the message but I wish the execution was better.

I couldn’t get past the bad wigs and fake facial hair. They guy is a bad actor.

This a very engaging, evocative, must-watch movie. Ray Liotta deserves an Oscar for this performance. Ryan Peyton, and the cast and crew were excellent.

GREG: (Greg Smith, Founder of Agile Writers of Richmond, VA) Scott, we just saw The Identical. It wasn t Elvis, but an amazing simulation. SCOTT: (Dr. Scott Allison, Professor of Psychology, University of Richmond) I had the identical reaction, Greg. Let s recap. GREG: It s the Great Depression and William and Helen Hemsley (Brian Geraghty, Amanda Crew) can t afford to keep their newly born identical twin boys. They decide to give one of them to Reverend Wade and his wife (Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd). The boys are never to know their origins. Dexter Hemsley, the son that stayed, goes on to be a big rock-n-roll star. Meanwhile, Ryan Wade (Blake Rayne) is growing up as a preacher s son - but he has the gift of music. While the Reverend Wade wants Ryan to follow in his father s footsteps, Ryan has other ideas. SCOTT: Ryan eventually tells his dad that his true calling is a career as a musician, not as a minister. Reverend Wade does not take the news very well at all. Ryan finds success imitating his twin brother s hit songs on stage, but soon he grows tired of the gig and wants to produce his own original music. One day Ryan discovers that he is actually Dexter s twin brother. He reconciles with his father and has a tearful reunion with his biological dad. GREG: Scott, I have read that Elvis was a twin and his brother died at birth. Elvis spent his life guilt-ridden wondering if he had so much power because he had stolen it from his twin. This movie appears to try to answer the question: What if Elvis brother had lived? If that is the case then the filmmakers went out of their way to do so without specifically saying so. They hired Blake Rayne (who is himself an Elvis impersonator) who looks so much like Elvis that sometimes you re left wondering if Rayne isn t himself a twin of the King of Rock-n-Roll. The music is patterned after the rockabilly themes of the 1950s but never comes close to really doing justice to the same. And the story itself seems like a retread of movies gone by where a preacher s son just isn t cut out for the cloth and wants to pursue a life of forbidden music (or dance, or acting, or fill-in-the-blank). SCOTT: Greg, The Identical is a simple, sweet movie that s a throwback to 1970s made-for-television films. Today you d see this type of movie on Hallmark cable television. There s nothing specifically wrong with this movie. The acting, directing, and production are all fine. The problem is that there is nothing distinctive or distinguishing about the film. No new ground is broken, and in fact we ve seen tales of this type a thousand times before. If you are going to take us, the audience, down a well-worn path, you d better include some especially dazzling scenery along the way. We don t have that here. Even the music is pedestrian. Blake Rayne is impressively Elvis-esque but my feet weren t a-tappin like they were during Jersey Boys earlier this year. I found myself rooting for the characters and hoping that something interesting would happen. Alas, it never did. GREG: As a hero, Ryan Wade does all right. He s a good, honest guy with lots of charisma and boy-like charm. But as you point out about the film itself, Ryan doesn t really have anything interesting to set him apart from other heroes we ve seen this year or last. He just goes through the paces and sings some really forgettable songs. There aren t any real villains in this story. The preacher / father character pushes Ryan down a path like the one he followed. And when Ryan finally diverges from the path, the father delivers contradictory messages by lauding the fact that the boy made an adult decision, then tells him he is breaking his father s heart. It s pretty tame stuff. SCOTT: I agree that Ryan is hardly the most interesting character we ve seen on the big screen. But I do have to give him credit for undergoing a significant transformation as a hero. He starts out with an overeagerness to please his father, a type of over-selflessness that limits him both professionally and spiritually. His missing inner-quality is his backbone, which he finally develops when he courageously stands up to his father. He summons this same courage later when he defies his business manager. The Identical shows us how we can never fulfill our full potential until we become true to ourselves. You re right, Greg, that there are no bad people in this story, only some challenging circumstances encountered by a man who is struggling to discover himself. I m leaning toward calling this a Man vs. Self struggle in which the villain to overcome (if you could call it that) is one s own inner limitations. Ray Liotta deserves some praise for his portrayal of a good man and a good preacher who smothers his son s potential yet later redeems himself. Reverend Wade could have succumbed to a trite stereotype of the evil, backward southern minister, but to this film s credit, he doesn t. GREG: The Identical won t be winning any awards this year. It was a plodding, uninteresting, conflict-free, two hours of uninspiring music, dialog, and plot. There were some nice performances by veteran actors Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd. Newcomer Blake Rayne has a nice future of playing Elvis, but little else. I give The Identical just 2 out of 5 Reels. Ryan Wade is about as dull a hero as we ve ever seen on the big screen. There are no hard decisions or climactic surprises. I give him just 1 Hero out of 5. And whether you think the opposition is Ryan himself, or the preacher daddy, or Ryan s awkward situation, there aren t any real villains to speak of. And the conflicting forces were pretty weak. I give The Identical just 1 out of 5 Villains. Movie: Villains: Heroes: SCOTT: The Identical might win an award, Greg, but it would be a Razzi Award. To be honest, this film isn t that bad, it s just outdated. Audiences from the 1950s would be impressed by The Identical but today s audiences demand greater sophistication in the plot, the characters, and the overarching themes of the story. There is a charming sweetness to the story but it can t carry the plain oversimplicity of everything we see here. I agree that this film merits a score of only 2 Reels out of 5. As I noted earlier, there is a fairly decent hero story in The Identical. Ryan Wade may be a rather simple man but he is forced to grow and develop some cajones to escape the oppressive influence of his father. It s not a particularly inspiring hero s journey but several key elements of the journey are in place here. A more sophisticated, updated version of the hero story might garner a higher rating but I can only muster 2 Heroes out of 5 here. Ryan Wade encounters no villains other than himself in this movie, and so the villain rating in this film depends entirely on how we witness Ryan overcome the weaknesses that are holding him back as a character. Unfortunately, there isn t much meat on this bone, just some flabby gristle that left me largely unsatisfied as a consumer. The paucity of interesting characters is this film s main deficit, especially in the realm of villainy. Like you, Greg, I can only give a villain score of 1 out of 5. Movie: Villains: Heroes:

So much cringe! This movie is set in an alternate universe where a stand-in for Elvis has a twin brother living a normal life (playing on the idea Elvis's twin brother, Jesse, survived to live in a world where his twin was one of the largest stars on the planet). We recognize insipid knock offs of Elvis tunes, like "Hound Dog," "Blue Hawaii," "I Can't Help Falling In Love." There's no way these songs would have stuck in someone's head long enough to make the singer famous. In this alternate universe there is no racism, as blacks and whites are perfectly integrated in the South. The oddest moment, however, is when there is a reference to the actual Elvis. I was yanked out of the movie. So this was set in the same universe Elvis lived in? Bizarre movie.

This movie is a perfect example of how widely misguided critics are. The Identical is as heartwarming as it is enjoyable; delivering great performances, outstanding music, and pleasant vintage aesthetics. I found myself loving every minute of the separated twins story and looked forward to how it would all conclude into a satisfactory happy ending.

excellent movie about twin boys separated at birth and how their lives continue to intertwined with each other. great story, actors and very entertaining.

Proof positive that professional movie critics have a different worldview than moviegoers. "The Identical" is clever, poignant and entertaining, and ultimately uplifting and enjoyable. Part "Comedy of Errors", part "Footloose" and part "The Parent Trap", "The Identical" serves as sort of an alternative history version of Elvis Presley (inspiring a big "what if" about Elvis' twin brother who was stillborn.) But "The Identical" is not merely a copycat, it adds its own clever and imaginative twists and turns. The real mystery is the critics' scores here. They seem to dwell on inconsequential issues of minor characters and certain budget-limited scenes (though many critics have no problem ignoring such defects if the topic is some bloody movie about greed and depravity). My guess is that what really bugs some critics about "The Identical" is that it is about wholesome, honest characters in sometimes difficult situations, including a family that relies on their faith to get them through. That's sacrilege to a modern movie critic!

ONCE AGAIN, the critics don't know jack! This movie is wonderful!

If the real Elvis would have seen this movie, maybe his life wouldn't have ended the way it did. I think this movie reveals that there are some things more important in life than fame, fortune, and fun - which both Drexel and Ryan get their share of. You get this sense that both Drexel and Ryan struggled with a sense of loss throughout their life (presumably because they were separated at birth). And even though their lives are on completely different paths, their countenance is similar - revealing that something is unresolved in their hearts. Maybe Elvis (a twin-less twin) also shared the same struggles. If any of you are a twin, this movie is for you. I have twin boys and there is a definite spiritual connection between them and I love how this movie portrays that concept. I'm also amazed at the amount of sarcasm directed at this movie - which usually means that there's something good about it that people are scared to face. The idea that God calls people to something is probably what people hate/fear most about this movie. We all want to be in control of our lives - right? But the call of God is to let go of our lives, put our trust in God, and follow Jesus Christ. For those of you who love to throw sarcasm at religion, I challenge you to open up the bible and read it cover to cover.

Not the worst, but not cheesy enough to be fun

The music is great and I really liked the movie.

A refreshing movie. What can be better than one Elvis doppelgänger? Two, of course! The story is family friendly, good message, good acting and wonderful singing. Give it a try on Netflix.

As I began watching, I thought it might be a gentler version of Footloose, then later perhaps The Lego Movie aimed more specifically at Christians (and I am one) but eventually I found out it was about fathers and sons, and I experienced... catharsis! It has been a long time since I have gone through that process watching a movie, so I cannot fault it too much, no matter how inane the plot (and it was, kind of). I hope Ray Liotta's performance is recognized... it was real to me. And as for the "follow your dream/gift because it is from God" message, I was a fan of "PK" Alice Cooper and know how he eventually used that as his rationale for continuing to present his sets (does he still sing "I Love the Dead?") and how Ludacris also claims it is a gift from God that he can rhyme about...well, you know. So that part I don't buy so much, logically. But CATHARSIS... that is a precious experience, something that IS, I believe, a gift from God. So, in the midst of the flies, ointment, and how often can that be said, even when there are no flies?