Elvis (2022)
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis tries to cram too much into its running time, omits aspects of Elvis Presley's life and features a deliberately eyebrow-raising performance by Tom Hanks. Nonetheless, it works. There’s so much energy in Austin Butler’s performance and the musical sequences are so well done that just about anyone who attends will leave a fan.
In 1997, Elvis Presley’s former manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), reminisces about how he met the future King of Rock 'n' Roll. He helped the simple child of Mississippi become an icon, and in the process, made millions.
Smartly, Elvis does not shy away from showing the influence Black musicians/music had upon The Memphis Flash's career. The origin of Hound Dog, gospel music and the musicians of Memphis’ Beale Street come up several times. It’s hard not to be reminded of Straight Outta Compton when Elvis defiantly stands on stage and begins gyrating despite knowing he will be arrested for indecent behavior if he does. It's not as angry as N.W.A.'s Fuck tha Police but when spliced with shots of Senator Jim Eastland (Nicholas Bell) it feels equally defiant.
If it seems absurd that a young man dancing on stage was scandalous enough to make newspaper headlines, wait until you see how Baz Luhrmann shoots Austin Butler. As he swings his hips, lunges towards the crowd and thrusts, you’ll see why the women in the audience were thrown into a frenzy. I suspect he cut out keyframes to make the movements seem that much bolder, more sudden. It works spectacularly. You can see the Australian filmmaker’s electric touch all over the place but he also shows restraint at key points. There are few noticeable musical anachronisms and his razzle-dazzle style returns in full force during the montages of Mr. Sideburns performing to his adoring fans. His relationship with his mother Gladys (Helen Thomson) and his wife Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge) are tender and tragic.
This picture is the next best thing to jumping in a time machine and seeing the King in person. You see why the man became a legend right away: the (diegetic) musical performances and the man's presence. Or, in this case, Austin Butler’s performance. If he doesn’t become a name after this film, it's because someone’s put a curse on him. Speaking of performances, this brings us to Tom Hanks. The accent he gives the Colonel is strange and hard to pin down. It’s almost as if it’s some made-up fakey voice used to seem extra foreign. Give it time. You'll see that's exactly the point.
My first criticism centers around Parker but it’s not the acting, it’s the choice to tell this story through his viewpoint because it only does so halfheartedly. There aren’t any scenes where the man tells us one thing and we can tell he’s delusional, for example. It’s as if, because he played such an important part in Elvis’ career and wound up outliving him, he had to bookend the picture, I guess?
The other criticism is that the film packs in so much it can't help but leaves some glaring and juicy bits of information behind. Elvis was notorious for his weird appetite - look up the Fool's Gold Loaf, for example. You’d think - since Parker establishes himself as a full-on villain by the time the story is over - that he would bring his cash cow’s unhealthy habits a lot more to try and make himself look good by comparison. The film was smart to follow a single thread: the relationship between Parker and Presley to avoid trying to tell an entire life within one sitting... but then sort of abandons its novel angle in favor of just covering everything.
You’ll want to see Elvis on the big screen with as many people as possible. Despite the sometimes unfocused and episodic plot, it’s so visually dazzling and Elvis was such a compelling person you kind of fall in love with him even without the songs. As for the music, it's in a league of its own. It’s imperfect but kind of a masterpiece too. (Theatrical version on the big screen, July 4, 2022)
