The Identical - C-

Rated PG, 107 minutes

Wes's Grade: C-

Bland, cliched pleasantly scattered “The Identical” channels Elvis

The energetic, low-budget new drama “The Identical” is a fictionalized story of a young singer who grows up, unbeknownst to him, with an identical twin brother who is a famous rock singer, but the story is clearly and obviously patterned after Elvis Presley.  Most musically-based films (including the recent James Brown biopic “Get On Up”) feature onstage musical sequences that highlight the film; “The Identical” is the opposite of that, with more compelling moments offstage than the awkwardly handled, badly lip-synched musical numbers. Twin brothers (both played by newcomer and indie singer Blake Rayne) are unknowingly separated at birth; one of them becomes an iconic rock 'n' roll star, while the other struggles to balance his love for music and pleasing his Mom (Ashley Judd) and stern preacher father (Ray Liotta). Directed by Dustin Marcellino in his feature film debut as director, the bland “The Identical”  channels the Elvis story, not to mention many rags-to-riches clichés. Some of it is charming, particularly its Southern sayings (such as “PK” for “Preachers Kid” and ‘Daddy and Mama’) but “The Identical” feels as well-worn and predictable as those blue-suede shoes and you have a sense of the path that it will take before it gets there. The cheesy musical numbers don’t help either, and it would’ve benefited considerably from more believable lip-synching and performing. Judd and the hammy Liotta, in a more sensitive performance than usual, add to the pleasantries, while newcomer Rayne, also in his feature debut, is serviceable as the twins (and it’s no surprise that Rayne, who bears a striking resemblance to Presley, is a real-life Elvis impersonator), though the producers should've only used Rayne in the adult sequences, he's much too old to be playing a teen. Oddly, the focus of “The Identical” is really on one twin’s journey (and the Elvis-like twin seems far more interesting too), but that comes as no surprise given the film’s low-budget would’ve made the split screen much more expensive. The climax is a little mauldlin and even cheesy, but “The Identical” is pleasantly (and yes, fictionalized, as far as we know it) yet scattered, occasionally compelling portrait of two different paths to success.