Elvis has Left the Building: Elvis Review

The story of Elvis Presley, as told through the eyes of his lifelong manager Colonel Thomas Andrew Parker, was an unexpected delight, I generally try to avoid judging casting announcements, preferring to see how an actor performs in a role before forming an opinion on whether or not they should have been cast. Prejudgments can cloud our opinions of a performance and prevent us from appreciating a job well done. After all, the casting director chose them for a reason. They must have seen something, they want the movie to succeed (hopefully). It is possible that it is a stunt casting, they want a big name to bring in an audience, but even still you hope they are trying to make the best possible choice for the movie. That’s all to say that when they announced that Austin Butler would be playing Elvis Presley I was…trying to withhold judgement.

I did not have high expectations. I had previously only seen him in more teen-oriented roles like Switched at Birth, The Carrie Diaries, and The Shannara Chronicles and while he’s attractive enough, his actor has never impressed me. Sure, Elvis is also something of a teenage heartthrob, but it was difficult to imagine Butler having the gravitas needed to play the King of Rock and Roll. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. Butler was pretty fantastic in the role, not only as an actor, but also as a singer. Because some of Elvis’s earliest recordings were not high quality enough to be used, Butler sang them in the movie. For later songs, Butler’s voice was blended with Elvis’s, keeping the vocals cohesive but still authentic. All his work with dialect coaches, choreographers, and a karate sensei (not sure why that last one was needed) really paid.

Tom Hanks, playing Colonel Parker, is also a character you cannot look away from in the movie, but for entirely different reasons. Hanks manages to embody a truly slimy, greedy persona. From the start he talks about putting on a show as a “snow job” where you essentially get people to hand you all the money in exchange for a smile on their faces (aka an enjoyable show). According to Parker, the best snow jobs are the ones that get you to feel illicit pleasure – both excited and a little disgusted by your excitement at the same time (such as a teenage girl being attracted to Elvis for his hip-shaking and gyrating dance style). When he realized Elvis elicited these exact emotions, he knew that he had to get his hooks in the performer. It is hard to tell how much Parker knew he was using Elvis and how much he had deluded himself into believing they were a true partnership. When Elvis tries to break away from him because he was holding back his career and taking half of his earnings, Parker threatened to sue Elvis for millions in “expenses” which led Elvis to acquiesce. When Elvis collapsed backstage before a performance, Parker’s priority was to “get him on stage at all costs.”

It turns out, I knew very little about Elvis Presley’s life. Which makes sense, considering he died a decade before I was born (but well before his time). Seeing Elvis’s connection to the black community, how it inspired his music and performance, and how it led to trouble (which ultimately was how he ended up in the army) was unexpected. I hadn’t realized how many of his songs were covers or how controversial he was at the peak of his career. The idea that they were going to arrest him for dancing on stage or blacklisted from venues despite sold out crowds seems laughable now, but these were very real threats he experienced at the time.

It was hard to watch how he was mistreated and given drugs to keep him performing and under control. This is a reality that is not difficult to imagine other performers experience in some form or other. (The whole #FreeBritney situation comes to mind – different circumstances but the same feeling that others are controlling them in order to benefit from their talent without concern for their wellbeing.)

The relationship with his wife and child felt a little underdeveloped, like it wasn’t really clear what the foundation of that relationship was event though it was clear they cared for each other. There’s a moment where Elvis kisses a bunch of women in the audience while his wife watches. Her expression appears angry, but we never hear her express this to him, only pride for his accomplishments. When she ultimately breaks up with him because of his drug habits, we had not even seen much of how it impacted her. Where they would have fit in more about their relationship (or his time in the army, for that matter) is tough to say. At about 160 minutes, this movie was already very long and, as enjoyable as it was, felt a little too long.

The last thing I will say is that the cinematography of the film really embodied the chaos of Elvis’s life. It really helped you feel the out of control nature and anxiety he was dealing with. A friend I saw the movie with said he found the quick cuts and movements distracting, but I felt they made the movie more real.

ABOUT THE MOVIE

Official Synopsis: ELVIS is an epic, big-screen spectacle from Warner Bros. Pictures and visionary, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann that explores the life and music of Elvis Presley, starring Austin Butler and Oscar winner Tom Hanks.

A thoroughly cinematic drama, Elvis’s (Butler) story is seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks). As told by Parker, the film delves into the complex dynamic between the two spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America. Central to that journey is one of the significant and influential people in Elvis’s life, Priscilla Presley (Olivia DeJonge).

Rated: PG-13

Starring: Austin Butler and Tom Hanks

Directed By: Baz Luhrmann

Screenplay by: Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner

Produced By: Baz Luhrmann, Gail Berman, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick, and Schuyler Weiss

In Theaters: June 24, 2022

Runtime: 2 hrs 39 min

Watch the trailer:

Photo: Austin Butler plays the young Elvis Presley who electrifies the audience performing on the Louisiana Hayride radio broadcast. Courtesy of Warner Bros.