Movie Review: 'Elvis' Fails to Take Care of Business

I am a huge fan of director Baz Luhrmann. I find his brand of colorful, whirling, swirling romance to be a heady and exciting mix. Luhrmann is an undeniable artist. That fact makes reviewing his new movie, Elvis, such a chore. I don’t like having to write negatively about a director I admire as much as I admire Baz Luhrmann. But, sadly, Elvis is far too undercooked, far too chaotic, and far too much for me to recommend.

Elvis is a pseudo-biopic of the legendary King of Rock N’Roll, Elvis Presley, played by newcomer Austin Butler. The actual star of Elvis however, is a fat suit wearing, comically accented Tom Hanks as Elvis’s snaky guru and manager, Col. Tom Parker. The film loosely tells Elvis’s story through the unreliable prism of Parker’s self-aggrandizing narration. This becomes confusing as Parker appears to narrate scenes he wasn’t present for or scenes that are deeply critical of his actions, which muddy his apparent motivation.

This is not helped by some of the most chaotic editing in any movie ever. As if he lacked confidence in how compelling Elvis’ life story was, Luhrmann tells the story in a swirling chaotic mass that leaps through Elvis’ timeline in an occasionally linear fashion. It’s not hard to get lost trying to figure out where you are in Elvis’s story and if you aren’t completely familiar with the story of Elvis Presley you may find this telling of his life story baffling.

Some can and will argue that Moulin Rouge had a similarly dizzying quality to its storytelling and they aren’t entirely wrong about that. However, what held Moulin Rouge together was a terrifically romantic story. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman’s crackling chemistry and the stylistically unique take on the jukebox musical keeps Moulin Rouge on track and easy to follow, especially compared to the disjointed and strange choices in Elvis.

Elvis lacks the romance that makes Baz Luhrmann movies such a dizzying mix of beauty, truth and love. Priscilla Presley (Olivia Dejonge) shows up in Elvis but is quickly relegated to the sidelines. We get no real sense of their relationship as the movie rushes quickly past their relationship, marriage and the birth of their daughter, Lisa Marie. The music of Elvis Presley is very much at the forefront of Elvis but it comes at the expense of trying to understand the character of Elvis Presley.

Austin Butler’s performance as Elvis Presley is also lost amid the quick cut chaos of Elvis. Butler simply lacks the presence of the real life Elvis. He can’t hold the center of this massive movie amid the whirling, swirling, tornado like storytelling of Baz Luhrmann. Elvis needed an actor who could stand out against the artistry of Baz Luhrmann and Butler almost immediately blends into the background, he’s often part of the furniture of a scene, especially when working opposite Hanks as Col. Parker.

Though I don’t think the performance is among Hanks’ best work, he’s still Tom Hanks. Even under pounds of makeup and a terrible, almost incomprehensible accent, Tom Hanks is the one actor in Elvis with the stature and charisma to stand above the bedlam of Baz Luhrmann’s directorial spectacle. Hanks is, perhaps, able to stand out because his take on Col. Parker is so strange and creepy, but, again, he’s also Tom Hanks, an incredible actor.

Tom Hanks is also another problem hampering the storytelling in Elvis. No matter how strange or creepy Tom Hanks is as Col. Parker, it’s hard to hate the guy. This means that Col. Parker is the villain but he’s also someone hard to hate because he’s played by Tom Hanks. I think Col. Parker is a con artist who did horrible things to Elvis Presley. But, as played by Tom Hanks, he’s also loyal, jovial, sad, and pathetic to the point you almost feel bad for disliking him so much.

My criticisms aside for a moment, there are good things about Elvis. The story of Elvis’s 1970 comeback concert on NBC is a pretty good story. Elvis got the gig on the promise that he’d deliver a Christmas concert and promote a sewing machine. He and his Memphis Mafia then worked behind Col. Parker’s back to give Elvis the chance to reconnect with his fans and be the Elvis he apparently always wanted to be. It’s a good sequence, a sign of the potential of Elvis that is ultimately squandered in the final product of Elvis.

Elvis debuted in theaters nationwide on Friday, June 24th, 2022.