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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

"Ice cream for everybody!"

I think it's pretty cool that Red West, at 72, finally has his first leading role, and also that the movie he stars in, Goodbye Solo, is getting praise from film critics.

According to an article in the Boston Herald titled Elvis pal Red West discovers ‘Solo’ stardom at age 72 "West plays a man ready to end it all. He hires Sengalese taxi driver Solo to drive him to a local mountain spot in two weeks. Solo can't accept what William intends and moves in with him to change his mind."

The first thought that came to mind when I viewed the trailer, was that this is miles from the role he played in Clambake as an ice cream vendor (in the awful "Confidence" scene). Goodbye Solo and West's acting in it seems like serious stuff.

I for one think Red West is entitled to some acting fame after 40 years in the business. Not only because of his uncredited bit parts in 17 of Elvis' movies, where he often fell on his ass after being knocked by Elvis in the obligatory fighting scene. But also because he has appeared in films such as Roadhouse (1989), Natural Born Killers (1994) and Glory Road (2006).

I'm looking forward to seing Goodbye Solo, which from what I understand is his most critically acclaimed role so far. I bet Elvis would've been proud of his old friend.

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