The DVD Journal | Quick Reviews: Spinout (original) (raw)
![[box cover]](http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviewimgs/s/spinout.jpg)
Spinout is the kind of movie that's almost impossible to judge out of context. When it was made in 1966, chances are it had a ready-made audience of Elvis fans who couldn't have cared less that The King was playing the exact same character he'd already "perfected" in such cinematic gems as Fun in Acapulco, Girl Happy, and Roustabout — a free-spirited, vaguely rebellious fella who never passes up a chance to flirt or play the guitar. In this particular instance, Presley plays Mike McCoy, a happily single itinerant musician/racecar driver who captures the attention of three very different girls — tomboyish drummer Les (Deborah Walley), sleek self-help author Diana (Diane McBain), and confident rich girl Cynthia (Shelley Fabares, who made almost as many movies like this as Elvis did). Much to Mike's dismay, all three hear wedding bells whenever he croons a love song (apparently it didn't take much to get a girl planning her walk down the aisle back in the '60s). Complicating matters further is Cynthia's father, Howard "Foxy" Foxhugh (Carl Betz, who also played Fabares' dad on "The Donna Reed Show"), who wants Mike to drive his fancy new car, the "Fox Five," to victory. Will Mike be able to successfully fend the girls off and still be able to win the big race — with enough time left over to perform a few poolside numbers for appreciative throngs of bikini-clad extras? Of course, this is The King we're talking about… Fans certainly will enjoy seeing Presley perform songs like "All That I Am," "Adam and Evil," "Never Say Yes," "Stop, Look, Listen," and the title ditty, but the movie's plot is so predictable and the characters so paint-by-numbers that at times it almost seems like a parody of itself (a la "Saturday Night Live"'s classic "Waikiki Hockey" sketch with Wayne Gretsky and Jan Hooks). That said, Spinout is harmless enough, if about as deep as the stream Presley crashes his jaunty sportscar into during the opening sequence. Warner brings the film to DVD in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) with monaural Dolby Digital audio. A French track is also available, as are a host of subtitle options. The only "extra" is a collection of trailers for this and other Elvis flicks (Double Trouble, Speedway , and The Trouble With Girls). Keep-case.
—Betsy Bozdech
