REVIEW: Elvis a grand, restless, overwhelming carnival in movie form — and we’d expect nothing less from Baz Luhrmann.
It’s no wonder Parker’s narration of this story, which frames the entire movie, bears the gutless stench of a deathbed confession. Parker tells us that the death of Elvis was in large part the fault of the public’s love and adoration, its unceasing need for, to which Elvis became as addicted as he was to the barbiturates and alcohol that spelled his certain downfall. We already know better.
When it works, it’s contagious. We largely have Austin Butler to thank for that. How Butler survived this role, with all of its ecstatic rebounds and tireless, jittery, sweat-stained feats of performance, is a mystery. Maybe the best thing you can say aboutis that the movie knows what it has. Luhrmann’s movie doesn’t need an Elvis impersonator.
B. B. King , Sister Rosetta Tharpe , Little Richard , Arthur Crudup , Big Mama Thornton , and Mahalia Jackson flow into and out of this movie with an ease that amounts to more than inspiration for Elvis. They’re seen performing at length, with Elvis often watching; by the time he performs the covers of Black music that would come to define his career, we’ve already been educated on the source.
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