Josh Reviews Elvis

Vaz Luhrmann’s Elvis is a rollicking guided tour through the highs and lows of Elvis Presley’s life and career, from his childhood as a poor kid in Mississippi to his extraordinary super-stardom as “the king of rock and roll” to his sad final days as a bloated Las Vegas performer.

There’s a lot that I enjoyed in Elvis.  The tale of this man’s too-short life (he died at only 42) is incredible, and the film packs in a lot of story.  The general arc of this movie is similar to many previous musical biopics — humble beginnings, rise to extraordinary success, and then a fall into personal problems, money problems, drug problems, etc.  But Mr. Luhrmann’s film is alive with propulsive energy right from the first minute.  Fast-paced editing, jumps around in time, graphics and text on the screen, rockin’ music on the soundtrack — there are very few scenes that Mr. Luhrmann allows to just play out as a normal sequence in a drama film usually might.  Particularly in the film’s first half-hour, I was blown away by the energy and creativity on display.  On the one hand, this energy is what held my interest in the film’s lengthy run-time (almost two hours and forty minutes).  On the other hand, I started to find the film exhausting as we moved past the first hour.  Mr. Luhrman does wisely slow things half in the film’s more melancholy second half, but nevertheless I found this film to be something of a marathon.  I think I’d have liked it a lot more had they found a way to get this down closer to a two-hour run-time.

Austin Butler is spectacular in the lead role as Elvis.  He’s got tremendous on-screen presence; he looks a lot like Elvis, and he can apparently sing a lot like Elvis too!  I loved how much music is packed into this film.  Mr. Butler is called upon to do a tremendous amount of singing, and I was impressed by how well he was able to pull it all off.  (Apparently all of the singing done in the parts of the movie chronicling Elvis’ start and early career was done by Mr. Butler, while some of the singing in the later half involved a blend of Mr. Butler’s voice and that of the real Elvis.  It’s seamlessly done.  Click here to read more about Mr. Butler’s singing in the film.)  Elvis is an incredibly difficult character to play.  First off, because he’s so well-known; we all know what Elvis sounds like, so Mr. Butler had to get this exactly right or it’d feel wrong to audiences.  Second, Elvis’ voice is so distinct that it’d be very easy to fall into caricature.  It seems to me that it would be hard to speak in that voice and also make this performance feel like this is a real human being we’re hearing.  There were a few moments in the film in which I think Mr. Butler brushed a little close to caricature, but for the most part I was very impressed with how well he was able to strike that balance.

Mr. Luhrman (and his co-screenwriters Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner) make the fascinating choice to have the film narrated by Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’s controversial manager who was, after Elvis’s death, accused of unethical business practices in his management of Elvis.  Tom Hanks portrays Colonel Parker in the film, under heavy prosthetics.  I was intrigued by the choice of having the Colonel narrate the film, even while the film clearly views him as a pox on Elvis’ house.  Tom Hanks plays the character like Satan, constantly tempting Elvis and keeping Elvis under his sway.  As with Mr. Butler’s performance, there were some moments in the film in which I thought Mr. Hanks’ performance brushed up against caricature (the elaborate fat-suit doesn’t help), but overall I enjoyed this wild, playful performance!  It’s an unusual turn from Mr. Hanks.  But it’s fun to see him play such a slimy character.

This film rest squarely on the shoulders of Mr. Butler and Mr. Hanks, though the rest of the supporting cast is strong.  Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge!, Mission: Impossible 2) is great as Elvis’ father, Vernon Presley.  He’s quite a pathetic figure in the film, one easily overwhelmed and manipulated by the Colonel.  David Wenham (Faramir from The Lord of the Rings trilogy) is terrific as the singer Hank Snow, and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) is good as Hank’s son Jimmie.  Olivia DeJonge makes the most of her small role as Priscilla Presley, and Helen Thomas is great as Elvis’ mother Gladys Pressley.  Luke Bracey is strong as Jerry Schilling, the manager who struggled with the Colonel for a place of influence with Elvis.  Kelvin Harrison Jr. is great as B.B. King, and Alton Mason brings the house down in his one incredible scene as Little Richard.

As in any biopic, there’s some invention in this film.  (The on-stage meltdown between Elvis and the Colonel, late in the film, does not appear to have ever happened, and the film draws a more direct link between the Colonel’s gambling debts and his scheme to book Elvis for years at a Las Vegas casino than might be truthful.  Click here to read more on this topic.)  But I was pleased that, while some biopics feel stuffed to the gills with made-up-stuff and scenes that jump out to me as feeling false, there wasn’t so much of that in this film so as to be distracting.  It helps that the entire film is framed as being drawn from the Colonel’s recollection, so that gives the filmmakers a little more room to play around with actual events.

The music in this film is incredible. We  get to hear new versions of all of Elvis’ greatest hits, of course, as well as samples of the music that inspired him.  There’s also a lot of modern music woven into the film’s soundtrack.  (Click here for more on the variety of music packed into this film.)

I was pleased that the film takes pains to emphasize that Elvis’ musical style was heavily drawn from the African-American community.  (However, I’d have loved to have gotten even one scene exploring what African-American stars such as B.B. King and Little Richard, who are both featured in the movie, might have thought about Elvis’ appropriation of their musical heritage.)

I loved the film’s final moments, in which footage of Austin Butler singing transitions into clips of the real Elvis.  That was well done and a wonderful way to conclude the film.

There’s a lot of fun to be had in Elvis!  The film is effective at bringing to the audience some of the thrill and excitement of seeing Elvis perform in his prime.  The film is loud and raucous and brimming with energy.  It’s a lot, and it’s a little too much at times.  But I respect the ambition of the film, and the creativity and joy packed into every frame.

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