Elvis Lives! As portrayed by newcomer Austin Butler-a risky choice that is paying off at the box office

I’m going to be completely honest with you folks. I have tunnel vision and am totally biased in favor of Elvis Presley. I have been a rabid fan since he swiveled those hips onto that black and white TV screen on the Ed Sullivan show in my home in 1957 when I was 9 years old.

Therefore, this is not a standard movie review of Elvis, the 2022 Warner Brothers film, directed by Baz Luhrmann that is currently burning up the box office. It is, instead, a report on my opinion of the impossible — an actor’s ability to portray the incomparable Elvis Presley.

I didn’t know much about sex appeal and hip-swiveling at the age of 9. It was the music and the energy that captured my attention. It shredded the pale, bland, “How Much is that Doggie in the Window?” music I was used to hearing and I loved every second of it. A life-long fan was born.

By the time Elvis finished his stint in the army in March 1960, I was a few months shy of my 13th birthday — a true teen girl who was now aware of Elvis’ burning sexuality.

There was no entertainer then, and there hasn’t been one since, who could compare to the scorching fire of sex appeal that emanated from that man. (In my opinion.)

You’re entitled to express your opinion on that statement in the comments, but I stand firm on this one. CLICK THIS LINK for a video clip of Elvis’ 1968 television Comeback Special that proves my point ( in my opinion).

From the deep, sparkling blue eyes, the barest curve of a smile hinting at something exciting and forbidden to the girls screaming in the audience, to the now-famous hip gyrations (which today would be called “twerking”), Elvis was the epitome of SEX APPEAL.

When I heard that a movie was being made about Elvis, my first thought was….How was anyone going to portray that on screen? How was anyone going to play Elvis in a movie? It could not be done. By anyone.

Mesmerizing looks aside, there was the musical talent, the depth of which I did not fully appreciate until I was an adult. Watching documentaries about him and listening more closely to his range of musical ability beyond rock and roll, particularly his gospel music, I felt it would be impossible for anyone to emulate his stunning singing voice. Simply impossible.

It was my opinion that no one could compare to Elvis Presley in sex appeal or depth, range, and tone of voice. No one.

So when I read that some young actor named Austin Butler, whom an old Baby Boomer like me had never heard of, was going to portray him in a new movie, I was appalled.

In my world, no one would DARE attempt to act the role of Elvis Presley. And if someone did, I was going to put my 74-year-old calloused, no longer dance-worthy old lady foot down and not give Warner Brothers one cent of my senior-discounted ticket money.

Then I happened to see young Mr. Butler interviewed by Jimmy Fallon. He was GORGEOUS. He had that same hint of a sexy smile as Elvis had. He was, I repeat, GORGEOUS.

He humbly described the honor and responsibility he felt in being afforded the opportunity to play such an iconic figure as Elvis.

CLICK THIS LINK to watch the Jimmy Fallon interview.

Curiosity seeped in. A group of my friends wanted to see it. I caved and agreed to go.

As we were walking into the theater, the image in my mind of fresh-faced, nubile, energetic, hormone-infused young girls jumping, dancing, screaming, and fainting at the sight of The King of Rock and Roll during a live performance was replaced by the reality of our group. Wrinkled-skinned, overweight, stooped old women hobbling up the handicap ramp with the aid of brightly colored canes. Ready to rock and roll.

Before I continue, I must say a word about Tom Hanks, who played Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, in the film and whose acting ability I highly respect.

He can portray anyone. He doesn’t “act”. He morphs into the person he is portraying. I have never seen Tom Hanks on screen. I have seen 13-year-old “Josh” from the 1988 movie, Big; Forrest Gump; Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the hero pilot who safely landed a disabled plane on the Hudson River, saving the lives of 155 people; Jimmy Dugan, the washed-up baseball manager in A League of Their Own; but I have never seen Tom Hanks. He disappears into his roles. He’s that accomplished an actor.

However, in this movie, as superb as his performance of Parker was, I hardly noticed or paid any attention to him after the first moment Austin Butler as Elvis came on the screen.

Austin Butler was nothing other than spectacular. He WAS Elvis. He didn’t act like him. He didn’t emulate him. He wasn’t portraying him. He WAS Elvis. CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE FOR YOURSELF.

The instant he appeared on the screen, 60+ years of my life melted away, a huge smile crossed my lips, and I started to clap my hands, tap my feet, and sway, which was the 2022 equivalent of my 1960s jumping, screaming, and dancing. The heat radiated off me.

Whether it was the looks — the hinted smile, the depth of sapphire in his eyes, the handsome face, or the mannerisms — the strut, the arm movements, the dejection and pain in his tortured face after the death of his mother, it was all Elvis. The looks, the mannerisms, the eyes, the raw sex appeal — Austin Butler had it all. He was Elvis.

But it was his musical performances that were the most mesmerizing. I was jumping (Well, not really -I can’t jump anywhere anymore — let’s call it exaggerated movements) out of my seat to his musical performances no different than if I was at an Elvis concert.

According to my research, Austin is an accomplished musician and talented singer. For most of the movie, the Elvis concert scenes were sung by Austin himself.

The story was told through the words and point of view of Col. Tom Parker, Elvis’ long-time manager and con man extraordinaire. It was a devastating description of his scathing emotional, financial, and mental abuse of Elvis through the years.

At the end of the movie, when years of drug use and physical and mental exhaustion took their toll on Elvis, actual footage of Elvis was blended into the scenes of Austin as a burned-out, bloated Elvis, until we were unable to distinguish the actor, Austin, from the real Elvis.

Austin’s portrayal was so masterful that it took a minute or two to realize that the last scene was a video of the real Elvis Presley sitting at the piano, playing and singing Unchained Melody at a concert in Rapid City South Dakota, on June 21, 1977, 3 months before his death on August 16, 1977. CLICK THIS LINK to watch that performance.

I am not a film critic. I do not know the intricacies and vocabulary of filmmaking. I cannot write a professional review of a movie, picking apart every scene and nuance of acting and directing.

This is simply a report by a lifelong dedicated, biased, unabashed Elvis Presley fan, describing her reaction to Austin Butler’s portrayal of her idol, and it was spectacular.

NOTE: Of course, I am aware that today, Elvis’ penchant for underage girls would land him in jail as a pedophile, but that is a focus for a different article. This article is a story about the performance of a young actor who pulled off the seemingly impossible.

Originally published in Medium.com publication, Illuminated-Curated.

© Copyright 2022 Joan Gershman