In 'Elvis,' Baz Luhrmann turns his camp-flavored maximalism to the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley. And while the result is profoundly uneven, the highs are too high (and too outrageous) to be missed. FOX film critic Caroline Siede reviews this over-the-top biopic.
, whose cartoonish, fat-suit-clad performance as Elvis’ manipulative manager Colonel Tom Parker is so profoundly miscalibrated it almost seems intentional.
And maybe it is. There’s an interesting bit of sleight of hand at play with the film’s structure. Though "Elvis" is in many ways a classic birth-to-death biopic that charts nearly every major milestone in Elvis’ life, it’s the Colonel’s over-the-top narration that actually drives the story, as the former carnival barker retells Elvis’ story in larger-than-life fashion.
Particularly impressive is the way Butler subtly evolves Elvis’ physicality over his decade-spanning career, from the electric impulsivity of his livewire 1950s performances to the swagger of his 1960s Hollywood years and the gaudy confidence of his 1970s Vegas reinvention. In fact, there’s so much to cover in Presley’s culture-shifting career that you almost wish Luhrmann had just gone all-out and made this a two-part epic to really give each era its due.
AUSTIN BUTLER as Elvis in Warner Bros. Pictures’ drama"ELVIS," a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
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