ELVIS: The King’s Kaleidoscopic Biopic

While watching Baz Luhrmann’s take on Elvis, I couldn’t help but think of the drinks named after the iconic rock legend. The boozy drink is not all that impressive, mostly consisting of grapefruit juice, dry gin, and elderflower liqueur. Comparatively, the Elvis milkshake is way too intimidating for combining ice cream, milk, bananas, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, and whipped creme. Luhrmann’s film feels like chucking both drinks into a blender set at a high speed. It’s definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of… all that but I found myself enthralled and surprised by just how much it works.

The Parker Perspective

It’s kinda stunning just how much of Elvis’s life is splashed onto the screen with exhilarating pacing at two and a half hours. The film follows him from his early days of growing up with African-American influences to his final performance before his tragic death. It jumps around all over the timeline that even the scenes start proceeding in a linear fashion, there’s so much visual allure to keep up with.

Adding to the chaos is the unreliable narrator of Tom Parker, portrayed with age and girth by Tom Hanks. Parker was Elvis’ manager who managed to con the singer out of a fortune and work him to the bone. Of course, Parker tries to deny his wrongdoings despite the narrative being spun. There’s a desperation to avoid being seen as the bad guy considering the framing device seems to be a trippy sequence of Parker on his deathbed while envisioning the casinos where he pissed away his money.

An Elvis is Born

After blazing through Elvis’ midwest youth, Austin Butler takes to the stage with great anticipation and delivery. After hearing a bit of Elvis on the radio, Parker seeks out this young up-and-coming singer. What he first finds to be an immaculate singer/guitarist turns out to be a sexy celebrity who can rock the stage. Once the wiggling of his hips graced the stage, no woman could resist.

As Parker merely witnesses a new act to exploit, Elvis proceeds through a life of luxury with good intentions. He aims to be loyal to his mother and father by supporting them to grant all they deserve. His focus also shifts to world events when the 1960s proved to be a battleground of change and where murders of public figures seem to be a regular occurrence.

Butler takes care to never portray Elvis with the comical exaggeration that’s been present for decades after his death. That’s easy enough for the quieter moments of drama as the actor gives just the right amount of heart and charm. When he gets in front of the microphone and starts grooving, however, he embraces the theatrics with powerful energy, throwing almost as much into his performances as Elvis himself.

A Wild Ride of Rock

True to his style, director Baz Luhrmann gives the life of Elvis with glitzy and exhilarating pacing. The narrative whips around different locations and time periods with typography that jumps around on the screen, begging for a revival of 3D movies. The musical sequences are a smash of different angles that crowd the screen like a psychedelic collage of Elvis overload.

The attention rarely feels diverted from Elvis’s first big crowd-pleasing stage number. He rocks the mic and guitar before unleashing the wiggling of his hips that makes women scream and rush the stage. The number cuts between Butler’s performance, reaction shots of the crowd, and Parker’s gear-turning narration about how there’s a perverse pleasure to make a buck from.

While Luhrmann’s garish style sometimes feels out of place with his remixing of rap and gleaming visuals, it works incredibly well here. The flashy and darting zip of the picture may induce headaches for some but it may also breed a newfound thrill for the late culture icon who redefined music. As someone who savors the delicious delirium of a Tony Scott or Neveldine/Taylor production that practically assaults the viewer with eye-candy most sugary, this was my kinda jam!

The clashing perspectives also keep the storytelling fresh. One moment you’re listening to Parker tell you all about his masterminding of merchandising, and the next you’re watching Elvis defy his manager by putting on the most non-Christmas of Christmas specials. There’s this clever battle at play between the rich man telling his story and the truth he struggles to rebel against, where even his blame of love for the death of Elvis feels like a cheap excuse for his legacy.

Some Familiar Biopic Aspects

For all the running and rocking this film does, it still isn’t averse to the more common tropes of biopics. While Luhrmann’s visual style is unparalleled, his dialogue ranges about fair. There are moments that come off more melodramatic than one would expect, where the battle between Presley and Parker over political statements seems too short and sweet for what could be explored.

There’s a very tactile approach to how the film writes the characters, reducing them enough so that they don’t get out of the way of the epic tale spanning decades. We get to see shades of Presley’s bitterness about how commercialism confounds art but in easy-to-read bits and pieces. Likewise, Parker’s ploy for profits has all the standard hallmarks of a happy huckster, complete with the sinisterly casual reveal of his true nature.

While some of these exchanges slow down the picture quite a bit in the fourth act, they do serve as a decent bit of breathing room. After all the carnage of exhausting concerts and machine-gun-style editing, there’s time carved out for the emotional core of Elvis. That’s more than worth the sacrifice of reducing Elvis’s movie career to a brief montage.

What’s a bit disheartening is how a few performances get left in the dust. Olivia DeJonge does a good job as Elvis’ wife Priscella but she’s mostly present for the obligatory moments she’s called upon for the king’s rise and fall. Richard Roxburgh also brings some heart to Elvis’ father Vernon and it’s surprising just how much Helen Thomson throws herself into the role of Elvis’ cautionary drinking mother Gladys. Blink and you’ll miss the performances by Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King and Alton Mason as Little Richard.

Conclusion: Elvis

Elvis is an irresistible sensation of music and style that serves as a flashy flick fit for a king. The musical performances will obviously be a major draw but the stellar performances by the charming Austin Butler and the reliable Tom Hanks make it all the more intoxicating. It’s enough to make the film more pleasing beyond its few melodramatic passages.

How much is true and how many liberties does Luhrmann take with the life of Elvis? Couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you is that the director seems to have found the right way to play with the material by fluctuating between those who knew Elvis and the version we want to see on the stage. But judging by the reactions of the Presley family, who were quite favorable to the picture, it seems there’s more truth than Hollywood haze in the film. Parker’s closing thoughts in the film about how it was love that killed Elvis may ring mixed messages but this film was certainly crafted with love for the celebrity, portraying him as a powerful performer who was just as mortal as us all, sweating and dying for just one more chance to make our voice heard.

Did you see Elvis yet? What did you think of it? Did it do the King justice? Let us know in the comments below.

Elvis will debut in theaters on June 24th.

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