The King of Rock and Roll, Elvis, deserves better than he does.
The life of Elvis Presley has been translated into a bloated and flaccid bore by the visionary behind such steamy and stupendous cinema as Moulin Rouge! The drama goes off the rails at the very beginning.
Don't expect much from a movie called Elvis. Forget what you think will happen from Luhrmann. The movie is not a biography of Elvis Presley, but rather an exploration of a far darker and less well known figure. The movie is not actually a musical.
Luhrmann has a lot of Elvis classics, some covered by new artists for a fresh edge. Luhrmann's attachment might make you anticipate a musical number in which you might relish. The King's signature moves are cut out and his stage presence is flashy but hard to hold onto. His most important performances will be undermined by Elvis's confused focus.
Colonel TomParker, the business manager who was blamed for the King's financial troubles, vices, and untimely demise, is the epitome of Lurhmann's vision of Presley. The Colonel proclaims in a grating voice that he is not the villain the world sees him as. He says he was Elvis's creator.
It is possible that the casting of America's Dad as an odious figure was meant to encourage us to trust the Colonel. Hanks has lost his charm due to a fat suit, jowls, and an accent. This bouncy collision of Southern American and Dutch is all the more inexplicable since the Colonel sounded nothing like Hanks. Hanks plays the part in a cartoonishly villainous way. It makes Elvis look like an a**hole.
Despite playing fast and very loose with the facts of Presley's life and presenting his story through the self-serving eyes of a con man, Elvis ends up falling into the pitfall of fawning over its hero. Elvis loved his mama, his young wife, his Memphis Mafia buddies, and all of his fans. The Colonel and his co-writers brush past the most problematic parts of Presley's life. Even as fans batter at his bedroom window in a jealous frenzy, a young musician is courting a 14-year-old girl.
Presley's whitewashing of Black culture is gussied up as sincere admiration. As if it's his for the taking, a close-up of a wide-eyed Elvis takes it all in, as if it's his for the taking. B.B. King, a blues legend who is presented here as a guide for Elvis, explains privilege and its power in the movie. In addition, Yola, Shonka Dukureh, and Alton Mason are not getting as much screen time as they would have liked. Each brings a lot of power and sensuality to their performances, making Elvis seem tame.
Austin Butler does a great job of mimicking the physical appearance and voice of Elvis. There's something missing that keeps him from fully realizing the hotness of Elvis the Pelvis, even though he looks terrific in a pink suit and lace mesh shirt. There is nothing wild about it. Presley had an air of danger even in his most well-made movies. He had a sexy snarl of his lips even when he was singing.
Elvis is too clean-cut to feel like a real person. Maybe that's Luhrmann's intentions. The Colonel constantly talks about Elvis as a golden goose, smoothing over the rougher bits that make him hard to sell. Luhrmann is attempting to make the sensationalism of Elvis seem quaint. Hip-shaking from music idols doesn't make people crazy.
One of the most intriguing rags-to-riches rock 'n roll stories of all time is effectively neutered by an unreliable narrator's version of history. The kind of spectacle we have come to expect from a Luhrmann vehicle is missing from Elvis. We get scattershot instead of come what May.
There are times of excellence, like Yola, Dukureh, and Mason. As a beanpole country singer who comes alive under Elvis's free swinging influence, Kodi Smit-McPhee is refreshing fun. Doja Cat's "Vegas" is one of the tracks on the soundtrack. Luhrmann does occasionally slow down for a simple visual pleasure, like the shot of a family praying in a back alley. There is a lot of glory and grace in these moments.
Like Presley, Luhrmann is loved for his too- muchness. This should have been a match that took place in Memphis. Elvis isn't interested in the man behind the legend. The Colonel could have fooled the King for a long time. He admires Presley and his legacy so much that it makes it muddy. Luhrmann looked at the messy human who hid under the leather and jumpsuits. He misses out on something that could have made his film even better.
Elvis is in a movie theater.
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