Elvis

Elvis (2022)

Exploring the life of the King of Rock & Roll Baz Luhrman’s Elvis is, surprisingly, a dark tale of caution. I expected inventive storytelling with the usual signature panache but I didn’t expect the manipulation of a conman behind the scenes.

Kudos to Tom Hanks (under a pile of ridiculous prosthetics) delivering a grotesque and sinister performance as self-styled ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker. The crafty opportunist lands on his feet when he witnesses the young Presley turn a crowd of women to mush with his vibrating leg and gyrating hips. With dollar signs in his eyes he muscles in as a music manager and bonds himself to Presley for life.

Relative newcomer Austin Butler is captivating. Combining both teen Elvis’s cockiness to his naïveté. Actually, he was cocky and naive until his death. It’s sickening watching how the predator Parker so easily dupes this young boy’s talent and profits from the jazz, rhythm and blues community.

As with any music industry biopic I’m obsessed with the songwriting process. I loved the early scenes with the musicians on Beale Street (Club Handy: home of the blues) and the magical behind the curtain scenes of his legendary comeback special in 1968 are inspiring.

Luhrman is quite divisive as a director. Often ignored by the Academy (aside from producer of Moulin Rouge) his films are a bit like having a firework set off in your face. But I’m a fan. It feels like he really celebrates cinema with zeal.

7 Quivering Thumbs Up! 👍🏻