Jace Bain
Film ruined the career of Elvis Presley. In the 1960s, while The Beatles and Rolling Stones were airborne across America, he was caught in a trap: starring in over 20 inane film projects. This allowed the rock nâ roll revolution that centered on Elvis to pass him by. Ironically, this story and more were adapted to the screen last month in the biographical film, âElvisâ. The picture was directed by Baz Lurhmann (of âMoulin Rouge!â and âThe Great Gatsbyâ fame) and stars newcomer Austin Butler as our favorite jailhouse rocker. It spans Presleyâs career entirely, but with a rigorous focus on the abusive relationship with his manager, âColonelâ Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks.
The conspiracy theorists have been right all this time. Elvis Presley is alive and well, but young, thirty, and goes by the name of Austin ButlerâŠor at least thatâs what I saw on the screen. I canât praise Butler enough, let alone give him the justice he deserves in this paragraph, so I recommend you keep an eye out for him this next awards season. I am of the adamant opinion that there are three different Elvis Presleys: 50s rock star, 60s movie star, and 70s icon. All three act and move so, so unalike, and Austin understood and played them all. The movie is almost sequenced in this way: giving all three Elvises (Elvi?) their own hour to portray themselves. Similar praises are in order to Helen Thompson, who plays Elvisâ mother, Gladys Presley, and Alton Mason who plays Little Richard, who I wish we wouldâve seen more of. The first quarter of the movie is set in the late-1950s, around Elvisâ rise to fame, and a majority of these scenes, especially the few that have Elvis and Gladys conversing about what lies ahead for the both of them, are so tonally gripping and devastating. Every director has a style, whether that be the calculated darkness of Alfred Hitchcock or Michael Bayâs explosions-a-plenty. Baz Luhrmannâs is simply vehement extravagance. I canât praise his art direction throughout the film enough. Whether itâs the set design, costume design, or the way Austin melts the camera lens whenever heâs on-screen, Baz Luhrmannâs presence is always intensely felt, especially if youâre familiar with his past work. Luhrmann also co-wrote the screenplay, which continues to make me feel as though he was the perfect man for this job. While your âBohemian Rhapsodiesâ will play âAnother One Bites The Dustâ at the drop of any hat, âElvisâ earns every music queue. It doesnât just use the music, the film reexamines it. Tones in goofy, throw-away songs, like âCotton Candy Landâ and âPower of My Loveâ, are completely overhauled and turned into life-defining theme songs for these real life characters. New songs, such as âVegasâ by Doja Cat, âTupelo Shuffleâ by Swae Lee with Diplo, and âLet It All Hang Outâ by Denzel Curry also have this same sense of extravagance, electrifying every scene theyâre in. One track that I thought was used beautifully and like never before was the iconic âUnchained Melodyâ, which had the audience ready to sob on the theater floor every time I saw the film on its opening weekend.
Truthfully, there was not much that I didnât overwhelmingly enjoy. At around two hours and forty minutes, the runtime may be a little much for the average viewer. Iâve come to the determination that, yes, itâs long, but not too long. Nothing in the almost three hours could be lost without the story (and the emotional significance of its payoff) being affected drastically. The story flows like a puzzle, with every piece being important to understand the full picture. Baz states that thereâs a four-hour cut somewhere in the archive and while he says it will most likely never see the light of day, I believe it. When it comes to time, though, I hate that we didnât spend more time in the period where Elvis was forced to make those truly terrible films of the 1960s. You can feel the importance of this wasted time in Elvisâ life, but itâs not explicitly shown and might leave those unfamiliar addled. Our introduction to Elvisâ longtime wife, Priscilla Presley, was quite weak as well, as we never really see them meet. Sheâs just kind ofâŠthere. Sure, sheâs not integral to the main story (that of Elvis and the Colonel), but not having your two romantic leads meet is surely a bold choice. Tom Hanks as Tom Parker is something I would have portrayed differently as well. Iâve seen a lot of people online refer to him as âcartoonishâ and, when I saw the film with âSabor Latinoâ host Cristopher Loya, he could only compare Hanksâ performance to Jared Letoâs ridiculous portrayal of Paolo Gucci in 2021âs laughable âHouse of Gucciâ. I have to agree. This cunning, evil businessman should have been lurking in the shadows of Elvisâ story, not ridiculously running around and laughing through halls with a cane. I feel like Iâm watching Cesar Romeroâs Joker compared to Heath Ledgerâs. This is not to say itâs a terrible performance, which it isnât, but simply succeeded in portraying a different idea than I would have liked it to.
Elvis Presley means so many different things to so many different people. As a man, he is portrayed truthfully here, with very little being held back. The climax of the movie, based around Elvisâ 1968 NBC television special, often referred to as âThe Comebackâ, shows the man grasping with mortality and relevancy with the undervalued song, âIf I Can Dreamâ. This scene specifically says a lot about how the film and its crew feel about Elvis Presley, whether itâs the tears in Austin Butlerâs eyes as he belts out the song, the cameraâs intricate zoom on the Colonel watching Elvis from the background, or Baz Lurhmannâs distortion of the background with magazine articles, showing us how the world thought at the time. Itâs almost an enhanced stage play with thick, thoughtful dialogue throughout. I very much enjoyed the film and it places high in my favorites of all time. While Elton Johnâs âRocketmanâ might still be my reigning, defending biopic champion, second place isnât too shabby at all. The powers that be all came together to make this one, great cinematic experience that the entire family will be able to enjoy and appreciate. I recommend you do it while the film is still available in theaters across the globe.
