Elvis (2022) Movie Review
Elvis begins by introducing us to Colonel Parker (Tom Hanks), the devious and conniving long-time manager of Elvis Presley. Parker narrates and advocates for himself, saying the press got the situation all wrong and painted him in the wrong light. While he is making these claims, we flash to the 1970’s where Elvis (Austin Butler) has collapsed on the floor. Parker saunters over as Elvis’ head is being dunked into a tub of cold water and reiterates that the most important thing is to make sure Elvis is on the stage. This serves as a precursor to the difficult situations that follow.
We then head to the 1950’s where the story really begins. Parker is working at a carnival for country-western singer Hank Snow (David Wenham). Someone plays an Elvis record and when Parker hears that he’s white, he becomes interested. Parker then regales us with the first time he ever saw Elvis perform — how he overcame his nerves to win the crowd over with his voice and his gyrating hips. Parker immediately knew he had something and Elvis began touring with Hank Snow, eventually surpassing him in popularity.
From there, it’s the Elvis show with Parker behind the scenes pulling the strings. Director Baz Luhrmann attempts to stuff as many eras of Elvis into the two hour and thirty-nine minute runtime. We see Elvis as a child, growing up in the segregated Black part of town and attending church services that feature music heavily. We see him making ends meet as a truck driver and then making his way to Sun Records to record his first songs. Soon, fame and fortune follow and we see the advent of Graceland and the effect his success has on his family. Luhrmann touches upon the issues Elvis had with ‘decency’ and folks threatening to throw him into jail for his dance moves, which by today’s standards are incredibly tame. To avoid some of the controversy, Elvis goes into the army and serves overseas where he meets his future wife Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge).
The rest of the movie depicts his acting career, a Christmas Special, a comeback tour, his marriage woes, and his war against Parker. If it sounds like a lot, that’s because it is. Luhrmann tries to stuff every inch of Elvis’ life into one movie and at times you get whiplash from how quickly you hop from one event to the next. There are a lot of montages. A lot. Luckily Elvis has tons of hit songs so the music is excellent and it’s helpful to have catchy tunes in the background as you’re whisked away to another year of Elvis’ life. The movie might have been better if Luhrmann had stuck to one era of Elvis, but biopics often have this issue so it’s to be expected. To his credit, Luhrmann does address many of Elvis’ influences, particularly the Black artists who he emulated. There are some very fun scenes at Beale Street where Elvis hangs with BB King (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and watches Little Richard (Alton Mason) perform. As someone who owes much of his success to Black culture, it was important to highlight these influences and Luhrmann delivers.
Despite the overly long runtime, the over reliance on montages, and near constant time jumping, Elvis is still entertaining. Much of that is due to the performance of Austin Butler who transforms entirely into Elvis Presley and will leave you absolutely stunned. The challenge for Butler is to portray Elvis at all stages of his life (aside from childhood). Butler tackles twenty-something Elvis with ease and continues to be impressive as Elvis gets older and life gets harder. His voice sounds exactly like Elvis and even his mannerisms are uncanny. He completely embodies the superstar and the movie is worth watching to see his performance alone. Butler proves his acting chops and then some and is undoubtedly on his way to his own stardom in the acting world. Although Elvis has some elements that needed work, it is admittedly fun to watch, particularly if you’re a fan of Elvis.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You want to see an award-worthy performance from Austin Butler
2. You are a huge Elvis fan
3. You like the glitzy over the top style of Baz Luhrmann
