Elvis - Starring Austin Butler And Tom Hanks, directed by Baz Luhrmann (2022)

A week before its actual screening on August 16, 2022 I bought tickets online to see Elvis - the first film I saw in a theater in at least two and a half years. At the time of my purchase, I had no idea that date eerily coincided with the 45th anniversary of the day Elvis Presley died way back in 1977.

It's a day I remember well. My wife picked me up at the train station after work that day and told me the tragic news while driving home. Needless to say, I was shocked. The death of the King of Rock & Roll at age 42 is the epilogue to director Baz Luhrmann's excellent film about Presley, a man who has now been gone from us longer than he was alive. 

The long, over two-and-a-half hour movie discusses all of the events that turned a shy, polite, mama's boy into someone who at one point was probably the most famous man in the world. Despite its length, the movie is fast paced so it holds your interest.

It helps if you know something about Presley's life before seeing this box office success because parts of the singer's early years and career were glossed over rather quickly. For instance, Elvis's time at Sun Records with Sam Phillips is almost treated as an afterthought even though it was vitally important in launching the eventual leader of the Memphis Mafia on his way to superstardom. This was probably done in order to spend the bulk of the running time discussing the movie's main theme: Presley's relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker - perfectly and evilly played by Tom Hanks. A better title for the film would be The King and The Colonel because without Luhrmann's huge emphasis on Parker Elvis would be an entirely different film.

Early on, the future star is seduced by Parker who ended up totally controlling his career. The illegal, Dutch immigrant rewarded himself with half of Presley's income instead of the usual twenty to thirty percent. Parker decided what songs the Tupelo, Mississippi native recorded, what movies he made, and the controversial manager even attempted to control his personal life to ensure the cash kept rolling in. Parker's mostly placid client allowed this to occur for a long time before he finally rebelled.

Parker wanted to be in complete control of Presley's every action, and because he couldn't leave the United States himself due to his shady immigration status he never booked a world tour. Presley never left the continental United States except for his 17-month army stint in West Germany, filming a few movies and performing in Hawaii, and playing three concerts in Canada while Parker controlled things from just across the border.  

One can make a case for Parker contributing to Presley's early demise. While there is no evidence in the film that Parker provided him with the pills that fueled his addictions the manager didn't seem to care as long as his client could make it onto the stage in an extremely cruel example of "the show must go on" mentality.

The part of the King is played by newcomer Austin Butler who is so good you forget he's an actor and not really rock music's first major star. If there is any justice at all, Butler should receive an Oscar nomination - at the very least - if not the actual statue to take home for his fireplace mantel.

Overall, even with the minor criticisms mentioned earlier, Elvis is a totally satisfying film that shows Presley's flaws and low points while not forgetting to present his better nature as well. Releasing songs such as "If I Can Dream" and "In the Ghetto" were his ideas - much to the consternation of the Colonel - indicating Presley cared much more about the state of the world than an average fan may have realized.

This cinematic biography is a great way to learn about one of the outstanding vocalists of Twentieth Century pop music. Elvis Presley could sing rock, country, showtunes, gospel and even melodramatic, semi-operatic works as well. In the end that is why we remember the man.