Elvis

Music biopics are becoming a dime a dozen in today’s society. While films about exploring the personal and professional lives of celebrities within the music industry have always been popular, the 2018 film, Bohemian Rhapsody (which told the story of the lead singer of Queen, Freddy Mercury) brought the genre back into the mainstream in a digestible fashion for casual viewers, leading to one coming out almost on an annual basis with examples like Rocketman, Respect, and Judy. This trend exposed just how much people were interested in these musical icons, especially in regard to learning about stuff they didn’t know about on a surface level, and one that got a large traction when it was announced was the 2022 film that focused on the rock and roll legend himself, Elvis Presley. Chronicling the life of the titular artist, the movie is told from the perspective of Elvis’ slimy manager, Colonel Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks), a carnival hustler who upon seeing Elvis’ unique performance style and musical talent (as well as the fiery allure that he ignites in his female and even male viewers) convinces the youth into letting him become his manager and turn him into a music sensation. Wishing to do well by his mother and father (played by Helen Thompson and Richard Roxburgh), Elvis (played by Austin Butler) agrees to the terms and becomes one of the most popular musical artists in the world, which also comes with its fair share of drawbacks as his strong sex appeal causes outrage among a portion of America who view his music as corrupting and dangerous to the common youth. Despite this, Elvis’ passion for music pushes him to want for more, but this road of success is always subtly held back by Parker, who is in a fact an illegal immigrant and is silently destroying Elvis from a business and personal angle through his excessive gambling addiction and his inability to travel overseas limiting Elvis’ reach across the globe. As the typical issues of musical stardom start to enter Elvis’ life like drugs and over-exhaustion that pushes him away from his personal life and his wife, Priscillia (played by Olivia DeJonge), it’ll only be a matter of time before the truth of Parker’s deception comes to the surface, but can Elvis survive until then? Being a commercial success and adored by critics and audiences upon release, Elvis takes a standard film genre and brings fresh new life to it with this glisty and passionate movie.

One of the components that starts to become apparent with most modern musical biopics is that despite winning favour when they come out, most of them feel like very same-y movies with little variety shining through from a directing, screenplay, or even acting viewpoint. This can’t always be helped as many people within the industry go through similar hurdles and predicaments (although experiencing the exact same situations does feel a little convenient), but even from a basic presentation level, they don’t stand out amongst each other, and it has led to a formula being birthed for this kind of story (which isn’t a good sign when it’s based on fact). Elvis from the get-go showcases how it doesn’t want to be like any ordinary movie and quickly establishes itself as one-of-a-kind by blatantly submitting to its craziness rather than trying to present itself authentically. It’s definitely more of a film about Elvis’ career rather than one about the person, but in a strange twist this isn’t much of an issue. While most biopics that favour business over the individual suffer because they lack emotional investment by removing the human element, this film’s fast pacing, the passionately goofy yet controlled acting (for the most part) and the almost ”passion over thought” ideology of presentation results in a very unique experience that does its job in capturing the essence of what Elvis’ music meant to the world back then and even now. It’s a film where the details of the real-life story aren’t always clear or perfectly established from the script, which was written by director Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner, but the emotions felt by everybody involved are always showcased, and it results in stronger investment.  It’s a rare film that runs on its emotions and sometimes neglects deep character discussion along the way but doesn’t suffer for it because it never takes itself too seriously and instead flourishes in its sparky personality and allows the audience to comprehend his star power by just showcasing it. This is assisted by the directing, as even though Luhrmann as a director can definitely be more style-over-substance when it comes to his films, there’s no denying that he is a perfect choice for this kind of narrative and personality, as his positive qualities (and even some of his negative qualities) help in breathing the flair, dramatic energy and even lustful hysteria into this movie and making it the right amount of overly goofy without feeling annoying or misplaced (like all his other films). Despite how well the movie is directed and paced for a good chunk of this very long picture, it’s one that didn’t need said length as the last act feels needlessly stretched out and takes what could’ve easily been a solid two-hour flick and drags it out for an extra thirty minutes (the Vegas stuff gets old pretty quickly).

Most of the characters in this film don’t really feel like actual human beings, but rather exaggerated cartoon caricatures of their real-life counterparts, but much like everything else in this movie, what shouldn’t work actually works much better than the bland alternative. This movie almost takes on an element of its own by essentially replicating the spirit and tone of those old-fashion Elvis movies from the 50s and 60s like Blue Hawaii, Jailhouse Rock, and Viva Las Vegas, where everything seems to exist in this bubble-gum pop atmosphere, where the people are definitely more cartoonish than real, and the star is Elvis but definitely moreso the musical persona of Elvis. That is what this movie is, just through the lens of his real life, and not only is that a brilliant way of standing apart from other music biopics while also paying tribute to a style that Elvis himself was synonymous with, but it also allows the actors to be a little more over-the-top and not feel restricted to being realistic. On the flip side, this kind of personality can be a detriment as while the characters are memorable from a performance level, any credibility they should or could have in regard to their real-life counterparts are practically non-existent, so they aren’t faces you’re going to remember. The main players have enough presence and stable performances that they work well enough, but anyone outside of the leads are barely memorable at all and even if they are important players in his life, you wouldn’t leave this movie knowing a lot about them (Priscilla seemed like a big element of his life, but the controversy surrounding that relationship made it better to step around that). Austin Butler does a very strong impression and portrayal of the character of Elvis, and that is an important distinction. Much like the rest of the cast, Elvis doesn’t feel like a real person as very little is shown about his personal life or struggles (at least in a noticeable manner), but from a showcase on his stage presence and his musical persona, its spot on and Butler portrays it very well and captures the spirit perfectly without ever falling too hard into feeling distracting cartoonish. This is unlike Tom Hanks, as his portrayal of Colonel Parker is so cartoonish, so goofy with his undefinable accent, and so comically evil that he doesn’t for once ever feel like a real person. He sounds like a drunk Irish clown channelling Emperor Palpatine, it doesn’t feel authentic in the least and even if that is how the man sounded, it is physically impossible to take seriously as he kills any scene he is attached to, especially ones that are supposed to be played remotely seriously.

While Baz Luhrmann isn’t always a great director, the one element he has always had a great eye for is visual spectacle. He always knows how to make his films look beautiful while also being unique and this film is no different, to the point where it almost doesn’t stand out as strongly as it has in his other projects. This isn’t to say that the movie doesn’t have a great look to it or doesn’t look impressive because it does; the art direction by Damien Drew, Ian Gracie, Tuesday Stone, Christopher Tangney and Matt Wynne brings a lot of color and vibrancy, yet also time-appropriate lighting and mood to the world, the production design by Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy effectively enhances the style of the picture, the various costumes Elvis wore also designed by Catherine Martin are delightfully recreated, and its overall just a well presented movie, but it’s so submerged in this style to the point where its constantly being showcased and it ironically doesn’t have as much of a ”wow” factor as you would imagine. The music numbers are slightly like that too in some respects with many of the numbers feeling pretty interchangeable, but the one thing that this movie has over other biopics is how the performances impact the narrative. When other biopics do song numbers, it usually feels like an excuse to just do the songs and nothing else is really added on top of that with a few exceptions, but Elvis doesn’t suffer that and it does know how to make these moments stand out not only from a visual standpoint with some fun extreme shots and dramatic angles done by cinematographer Mandy Walker during the performances, but it gives just enough new insights into Elvis to make each number feel like it’s portraying something about him in a new light, like his first experience as a star or how he refuses to be shaped by what the higher ups want him to be during his censorship years, it smartly drops just enough new information in to not make it feel like your gaining nothing from this accelerated pace and tone, but it also sidesteps stuff that could easily be googled later on.

Elvis is an interesting film that arguably could be very divisive for people who are looking for a specific thing. Most people who are into films like Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman or Judy might not get into this movie because of how its presented or how it’s more focused on style than actual substance, but much like the person himself, this film isn’t easy to pin down to a specific tone, and in capturing the spirit and energy of Elvis himself, it succeeds very well at what it set out to achieve. There are parts that drag (again the last act is where the movie starts to show its length) and it’s not hard to see why some people might not be into it, but with the mindset of not taking it seriously and embracing the crazed but surprising genius of this idea will result in a pretty engaging sit with great production, enjoyably performed actors, and directing that brings out the personality and emotions that Elvis created through his persona and music. Some may not enjoy the goofiness, but it’s hard to imagine an Elvis movie that wouldn’t be portrayed in that way, and it actually opens up the possibility of other music biopics bringing a unique flair that reflects the artist they’re focusing on as opposed to playing it straight, and this movie showcased how that could work. Even if the silliness doesn’t always match (anything that involves this specific Tom Hank performance can’t be a serious film) you can’t help falling in love with this movie even just slightly.