ELVIS

Director: Baz Luhrmann

2022, 159min., PG-13

Screenwriter: Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce, Jeremy Doner, Sam Bromell

Cast: Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Austin Butler, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lenesha Randolph, Jordan Holland, Gary Clark Jr., Shonka Dukureh, Alton Mason, Yola , Shannon Sanders

 

The dazzling new movie about the King of Rock n’ Roll is a labor of love for Australian director Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge). With a hip-shakin’ star-making performance by Austin Butler, Luhrmann’s film recognizes the musical genius of a poor kid from Tupelo, who (along with Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis & Chuck Berry) jump-started the next, more rebellious generation. Told from the point of view of Elvis’ inscrutable manager (Colonel Tom Parker played by Tom Hanks), it witnesses a heart-breaking waste of talent, as Parker manipulates the artist he would never understand into making cheesy movies and walking through interminable shows in Las Vegas, until he became an addict and a figure of ridicule. But Luhrmann knows better: in celebrating Elvis’ uniquely expressive voice, the movie lifts the spirit as only great music can do.

“Of the actors who have previously tried to bottle Elvis’s magic, none has come close to the physical, emotional, electrical energy that throbs through Austin Butler.” – Mark Kermody, Observer (UK)