2022 ( USA | Australia ) ( Biography, Drama, Music )
Starring: Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, Olivia DeJonge
Director: Baz Luhrmann
This film illustrates the life of American music icon Elvis Presley, from his childhood to becoming a rock and movie star in the 1950s and his complex relationship with his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
One thing Baz Luhrmann’s furiously entertaining, mile-a-minute Elvis biopic doesn’t do is overload you with too much perspective. It doesn’t dig into every aspect of his life but instead immerses you in a musical origin story that pays much-needed tribute to the Black roots of his songs. Most of all, Luhrmann’s screenplay zeroes in on Elvis’s relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker; initially a mutually beneficial deal that slowly curdles into something exploitative, gaslighting and borderline criminal.
With electrifying performances from Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as Colonel Parker, Baz Luhrmann’s whirlwind biopic is cinematic dynamite.
(2hr 39min)