Elvis
Year: 2022
Rating: PG-13
Length: 159 minutes / 2.65 hours
Elvis Presley is one of those notable public figures that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. How could this singer not only cause teenage girls to lose their minds when he shook his hips but also have a military career while making Holywood movies, only to end up performing in Las Vegas until he died? It almost seemed like these were three separate individuals when, in reality, Elvis really did it all. I wasn’t aware of the unfortunate relationship he had with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), but Elvis (2022) helped piece all the parts of Elvis’ life together in an entertaining package.
I don’t think there is any director who was better suited to bring this story to the big screen than Baz Luhrmann. His tendency to create musical mashups blended so well with Elvis’ background in both Gospel and Blues. Seeing this popular white man using his clout to highlight the African American roots of his music was commendable, considering the era when he gained his popularity. It helped that Austin Butler is basically a dead-ringer for Elvis. Any other casting decision just seems wrong in hindsight. I think he’s likely to get some acting nods when awards season rolls around.
While I didn’t particularly care for the focus of this movie being framed around Elvis’ manager, I can concede that it was the best way to show how these vastly different parts of Elvis’ career came into being. It’s almost an understatement to say that Elvis was a trailblazer in so many aspects of music that we might even take for granted today. The fact that he needed drugs to keep doing what he loved—performing on stage in front of crowds of adoring fans—just showed how serious burnout can be.
An expertly cast biopic about the most famous singer, I give Elvis 4.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
