The King

James Marsh has created a strange and interesting ride with his film The King. Young Elvis Valderez (Gael Garcia Bernal) is discharged from the Navy and decides to go to Texas and reunite with his father. The fact that he doesn't really know his father makes the prospect of meeting with him all the more important. We don't learn much about his mother except that she was Hispanic, had an illicit affair with his father (perhaps she was a prostitute) and that she is dead.

Upon his arrival in Texas Elvis decides to visit the Church where his father is now the spiritual leader. Pastor David Sandow (William Hurt) is a Born Again Christian and he has a wife named Twyla (Laura Harring), a son Paul (Paul Dano) and a daughter Malerie (Pell James). After the services are finished Elvis confronts David and even follows him home by car but David is not interested in getting to know his eldest son. Twyla, who knows about David's past, tells him that she always knew something like this would happen.

Not willing to give up, Elvis seduces the curious Malerie and they embark on an incestuous affair. He definitely has a plan. In the meantime the fanatically religious Paul teams up with some other religious students in his school in an effort to ban the teachings of Charles Darwin and introduce Intelligent Design into the curriculum. This idea goes nowhere fast as the science department in the school rejects it.

I cannot say another thing about the plot because that would be giving away too much. I will say that the film takes a good number of twists and turns that I didn't expect. There are some things in the story that I found to be not that believable but once I barred disbelief I really got into the story. Marsh wrote the screenplay with Milo Addica (Monster's Ball) and it is for the most part clever. The direction is pretty good but sometimes I felt that the film was a bit too stagnant and needed some air flowing through it. There is quite a bit of religious symbolism in the film. There is a white horse that appears from time to time but I haven't figured out what, if anything, that meant.

All of the acting is good. Bernal gives a fine performance as Elvis (who is not what he appears to be) and all of his emotions can be read through his eyes. But the real standout in the film is Hurt. His turmoil is so raw that it is sometimes painful to watch. He is truly one of our finest actors.

The film depicts Evangelical Christianity in a negative light. I don't have a problem with that because I feel that these people want to tell the rest of us how to live our lives (bringing religion into a public school is one example). Overall The King is a good but not great film. It may not be for every taste but for those who like dark, complex films that make them think this one will be right up their alley.