BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Tockinit not horrible nor great

Majorthebys Charming and brutal

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

TheLittleSongbird Elvis Presley was a hugely influential performer with one of the most distinctive singing voices of anybody. He embarked on a film career consisting of 33 films from 1956 to 1969, films that did well at the box-office but mostly panned critically (especially his later films) and while he was a highly charismatic performer he was never considered a great actor.Personally am of the opinion that some of his early stuff is actually pretty good (a few even more so than that), the writing and stories weren't always a strong suit but they had good supporting performances, great soundtracks with some iconic songs, they didn't look like they were made on the cheap and Elvis actually showed himself to be a decent enough actor when the songs and material allowed it. The later films when Elvis was past prime not only had those story and script problems but did have problems with production values, less good supporting cast and Elvis being past prime and didn't even have the benefit of having good soundtracks.'Jailhouse Rock' is often considered Elvis' best film, a consensus agreed with by me. It may not be a masterpiece of film and it's not perfect, but for an Elvis film it's very good, proving that not every Elvis film is deserving of scorn regardless of initial reputations (though actually for an Elvis film "mixed reviews" shows that it was still better received than most of them). The dialogue once again is not a strength in 'Jailhouse Rock', too many times making one cringe in its corniness and soapiness. A few of the situations are a touch on the hackneyed side too.However, 'Jailhouse Rock' is well shot and is hardly a film that while not looking expensive not looking cheap. Richard Thorpe always struck me as a very capable director but tended to be somewhat of an undistinguished one, he does well here and does nothing to undermine Elvis' star power or the emotional impact of the story.The soundtrack is magnificent and one of the best for an Elvis film, while the iconic title song (have always had great fun singing and dancing along to this song) is stunningly choreographed and iconic for good reason making just as big an impact are a tender "Young and Beautiful" and a soul-blistering and blood-stirring "Baby I Don't Care".While the story is unexceptional structurally, it is one of the better stories in an Elvis film, it is unusually dark and very moving often with a personal edge that makes it even sadder to watch. Elvis' performance here is one of his most natural (very little stiffness here) and while he is not in the same ball-park as his influences Marlon Brando and James Dean this is the closest he ever came in his film career to be as good as Dean, he's charming, tormented, charismatic in an easy-going sense and there is once again like in his previous two films a genuine emotional honesty. He sings sublimely and distinctively.Judy Tyler is endearing (tragic what happened to hear) and Mickey Shaughnessy excels in a serious role.Overall, a very strong contender for Elvis' best (gets my personal vote for that distinction) and Elvis himself rocks it. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Hitchcoc I have always been an Elvis fan. Of course, I've pretty much limited it to the music. It's a shame that his talents were wasted on such a pack of crummy films. Nevertheless, I did feel this one was OK. Let's face it, anyone who saw Elvis's first couple films wanted to see the singing and dancing. When I was "Love Me Tender," the girls in the audience screamed through the whole thing. Also, the songs were quite good, part of his vocal canon. Here the poor guy gets put in the slammer for manslaughter from an ill fated fist fight. In jail, he manages to hook up with a multitude of accomplished singers and dancers. The song "Jailhouse Rock" is a wonder and the choreography is marvelous. Once the young man gets out, he again falls on more hard times, but we know he will land on his feet. I wish they had found some solid scripts for him after this.

MartinHafer I am not a big fan of Elvis films. In fact, the only films of his I've seen up until now have been his worst ones, as I have a perverse love of dreck. However, I know "A Change of Habit" and "Spinout" are bad and it's not fair to base my opinion of Elvis films based on these! So, when what is supposed to be his best film, "Jailhouse Rock", came on TV I decided to give it a look.The film had a lot of good and a lot of bad....but mostly bad. On the positive side, the songs are great and when Elvis is singing, the film is at its best. Unfortunately, while folks back then might have enjoyed the plot, I thought it was dreadful. Instead of making Elvis likable, the guy he plays in "Jailhouse Rock" is brooding, rude and a real hot-head. Much of the time, he's inexplicably angry at the world-- yet the character wonders why the girl doesn't like him! If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn that Elvis' character was supposed to be suffering throughout the film with a very bad case of PMS!The bottom line is that the writing was the problem with this film. Whether or not Elvis was a good or bad actor is something the movie simply doesn't address as no musician could come off very well based on the lousy dialog and character he's given in this one.

Dominic LeRose Elvis had the charm to make him one of the most popular American celebrities of all time. His music touched the lives of millions, he made girls go crazy, and made every man dream of being him. His time behind the camera is something we should clear our minds from. Elvis plays a bad boy released from jail who then starts singing like crazy in "Jailhouse Rock." Elvis really tanked at singing in this film. His raspy voice and overdone charm is painful to tolerate. The dancing is also weakly choreographed. It looks like Elvis was forced to dance against his original style. For some reason, director Richard Thorpe thought it would be cool to have him play a bad boy with a soft side to him. Obviously we get stuck with a love story that made me gag. The reason I saw this film was that at school we had to watch it in a film class. Out a hundreds of classic films to show the progress of movies throughout time, it ponders me how my teacher showed us this garbage. It's a quick film that we finished in two days, but it is dreadful to listen to every second. It's funny how just because someone is famous they get to be in big movies. Elvis had zero acting talent, but there's a strong chance hundreds of promising gentlemen tried out for this role and didn't get it due to not being famous enough. Elvis may have charmed us in music, but boy o boy is he a horrendous actor who chose worthless movies to star in.