REVIEW: ELVIS May Not be Worth the Price of Admission
Elvis Presley is a name that is recognized all over the world. The singer revolutionized the music industry during his career as the King of Rock and Roll and continues to have an impact on the music industry to this day. Now, director, Baz Luhrmann is bringing the iconic singer’s story to life in his new film, ELVIS, and this one may have better been left on the shelf.
The film follows the career of Elvis Presley (Austin Butler) through the eyes of his manager, Colonel Sam Parker (Tom Hanks). Parker takes the audience on a journey that showcases the difficulties of Elvis faced not only in his personal life, abut professional life as well. However, what should have been a beautiful exploration of a music legend turs out to be more of a choppy ride with no end in sight. The story was extremely shaky, even more than Elvis’ hips, causing the film to drag from start to finish. What was originally described as a biopic, the film feels anything, but a biopic. Luhrmann’s ELVIS doesn’t really explain who Elvis was or focus on the impacts he made on the music industry. Instead, the film brushes over topics and characters that could have led to a more compelling and engaging storyline, to instead focus more on making the pic as flashy as humanly possible. It’s as if the film doesn’t know what it wants to be, expect to be covered in capes, fringe, and rhinestones.
Butler is tasked with the job of bringing to life the King of Rock and Roll and does a decent job. The actor can definitely shake his hips and pull off Presley’s large vocal range, but even though it was Elvis’ film, it felt like he was hardly in it. Don’t get me wrong, the character is in it a lot, it just didn’t feel as if the character really had a part except be the puppet of this story. Which is a shame because given the right material, Butler could have given the audience a masterpiece. Alas, it felt this way with all of the characters. Olivia DeJonge, who plays Elvis’ wife, Pricilla Presley, never gets to fully bring her character to life while a number of other characters are introduced, like the Memphis Mafia, but Luhrmann never explains who they are and what part they played in Elvis’ life.
Hanks takes on the role of Parker and is the clear villain of this story. Though he tries to paint it in a unique way, Hanks does a wonderful job portraying the manipulating manager. His chemistry with Butler has a father/son type feel to it, but besides one scene towards the end of the film, you never really get to see Hanks nor Butler shine in their respective roles.
Like past Luhrmann films (Moulin Rouge, Australia, etc.), ELVIS relies heavily on its cinematography. Luhrmann knew what he was doing when he shot this film. The cinematography was gorgeous and was the major player in this story. It beautifully entwined original footage of Presley with the fictional footage of Butler seamlessly and never misses a beat. But no matter how beautifully made the film was, it still couldn’t keep me entertained.
This film is not one I would recommend seeing in theaters nor would I recommend watching it at home. The film is two hours too long and not worth the price of admission. You’re better off watching a documentary on the life of Elvis rather than sitting through this film.
Grade: D