By CORY WOODROOF

Can an audience member forgive a good-hearted movie that, at times, can be so wrong-headed it’s painful?

Can an audience member forgive a good-hearted movie that, at times, can be so wrong-headed it’s painful?

Such is the case with “The Identical”, a ham-fisted family drama that has one of the oddest-yet-clichd stories presented on-screen in the last decade.

Here, a down-on-their-luck couple decide to give one of their new-born twins up in a secret adoption with a firmly religious family (Ray Liotta’s dedicated pastor Reece Wade and Ashley Judd’s kindly wife Louise Wade).

The two twins grow up – one becoming pop megastar Drexel Hemsley, the other becoming Ryan Wade, the quintessential preacher’s kid, part devout, part respectfully rebellious.

The film centers on Wade’s dilemma of desiring a career in the music industry while struggling with his father’s hopes of his son following in his footsteps to the ministry. Wade also begins to notice that his mannerisms, look and singing are extremely similar to that of Hemsley.

So far, so good, right? Well, as it turns out, both of these young men look like Elvis Presley, talk like Elvis Presley, dance like Elvis Presley, live in the same state as Elvis Presley, have vividly similar life beats to Elvis Presley and, yes, sing exactly – exactly – like Elvis Presley.

Within these jarring details lie the true problem with “The Identical” – this movie was a bad, bad idea.

Within the parameters of the musical biopic, “The Identical”, without its blatant attempt to rip-off or make some sort of weird parallels to the life of Elvis Presley, would have been a Hallmark-certified cookie-cutter story at best. Boy wants career, dad pushes against it, boy goes out and makes way, dad is still against it, but both come together at the end and everyone’s happy.

It’s a tried-and-true — and tired — formula that ever-so-often takes place within a musical background. But, what if the lead character is, essentially, an impersonation (in fairness, a pretty darn good one) of Elvis?

Ever imagine what a peanut butter and saxophone sandwich would taste like?

Really, that’s exactly what “The Identical” is. The film is chocked full of clichd story beats and characters, which is all fine and dandy for a mediocre melodrama, but the film also takes such an incredulously bizarre idea – making the lead character an Elvis impersonation – and becomes something else entirely.

It’s absolutely an out-of-body experience whenever Ryan Wade interacts with someone. It’s like you’re watching Elvis, but it’s not Elvis.

It’s even more odd to watch Drexel Hemsley. The other, far more famous twin is more of a face on a screen than a character, but if it weren’t for the different name and different hit songs, a 3-year-old could tell he was the King, or at least a Xerox copy of him.

It doesn’t help matters that, apparently, Elvis Presley actually exists in this bizarre universe. Meaning that, in “The Identical”, Elvis, Drexel the Elvis clone and Ryan, Drexel’s twin and yet another Elvis clone, inhabit the same universe? Cue the theme to The Twilight Zone.

In real life, Elvis did tragically have a twin who died at birth, and the film is technically imagining, “What if that twin didn’t die and had the same skillset?” However, the film hits its biggest false note by creating its confusing universe where Elvis’ life has been replaced by other people, but everything about Elvis remains intact. And, it’s a world where, somehow, Elvis exists.

Even with this head-scratching dilemma, “The Identical” isn’t without its virtues.

The cast is fine. Liotta’s take on a Southern preacher isn’t a stereotype. The character is pretty standard, but Liotta does his best to add a little life to his performance. Judd also gives the “preacher’s wife” role a refreshing upgrade. Newcomer Blake Rayne, an Elvis impersonator in real life, seems to be a fairly genuine guy, and it shows in his acting. However, the performance is victim to the absurdity of the premise. He deserves a non-Elvis-esque role to showcase his easy-going personality. Erin Cottrell also earns good notices as Ryan’s love, Jenny.

Seth Green, Joe Pantoliano, Brian Geraghty and Amanda Crew all show up in smaller roles, and while some of their characters aren’t exactly fleshed out, none do anything wrong, per se.

The film’s original music owes a lot of credit to Elvis’ work, but for what it’s worth, the songs are the smoothest translation of Elvis’ life here.

The movie also works to some degree in driving its central message home. Being of the faith-based variety, the film’s heart is to say that it’s OK to follow your dreams, or in this case, your Heavenly calling. For a Christian film, it’s a solid foundation to build your house on. The acting and screenplay also respect this idea and act accordingly to its message.

But, there are moments in this movie that fall flatter than anything in a good while. Whether it’s an oddly phrased line of dialogue here, an impeccably awkward scene here or an unintentionally hilarious moment there, “The Identical” has so many bumps and bruises on top of its ludicrous core that the film itself can become so unwatchable that it’s hard to turn away.

The irony here is that the scenes centered on faith, which are typically hard to nail down due to their complex nature, are easily the film’s strongest moments.

Plenty of other faith-based movies have fallen for the same traps that ensnare “The Identical,” which is a shame. Good-natured messages don’t need to get caught up in such poor storytelling. But, to some, the positivity of the film’s alter call might be enough to forgive the movie’s many misgivings.

“The Identical” has a good heart, but the good heart is enshrouded in a bad idea. Can moviegoers forgive a messy movie if it means well? At the end of the day, the final say will be on the lips of the beholder.