REVIEW: ‘Elvis’

WFB ^ | 25 June 2022 | John Podhoretz

[Rummyfan]

This misbegotten thing needed a little more conversation, a little less action

Elvis is 2 hours and 40 minutes of camera swoops and dissolves and wipes clearly intended to evoke not only Luhrmann’s own past work but Elvis’s own physical gyrations. This thing never slows down to the speed limit, not even for a second. The problem is that after 10 minutes of dazzlement—the sets and costumes and cinematography are absolutely gorgeous—the whole project starts seeming crazily desperate rather than refreshingly exhilarating. By the time the first hour has passed, you feel simultaneously overstimulated and under-entertained. By the time the second hour mark has come, you start wondering where Fat Elvis is already so you can see the end coming. And when it’s over, you may feel like you never want to go into a movie theater ever again.

Aside from Luhrmann’s welcome insistence that Elvis’s use of African-American musical tropes was born out of love and respect rather than an act of cultural appropriation, he has absolutely nothing of interest to say about Presley and clearly has no clue what the man was about. That is no sin—Elvis’s best biographer, Peter Guralnick, points out that it’s very hard to get a bead on Elvis because he “never kept a diary, left us with no memoirs, wrote scarcely any letters, and rarely submitted to interviews.” Still, if you’re going to make a biopic, you have to present a compelling character we’re willing to follow for the length of the movie—and Elvis here is a total cipher.

[Rummyfan]

IMHO, Elvis is sui generis. He defies convenient definition and a biopic of him is an exercise in futility, unless one sticks simply to dates and hits.

[Mermaid Girl]

We saw it (husband, daughter and myself.) We liked it.

[miserare]

I’d rather watch old Elvis movies, and experience the real thing.

[Rummyfan]

Thanks for the feedback. Haven’t seen it myself. Luhrman is an ... acquired taste.

[GnuThere]

I didn’t care for it, but the scenes showing his effect on his audience are pretty powerful.

[proust]

But is it... woke?

[lowbridge]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PxNlpZxVR7E

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O1BETsCfUMY

[Deaf Smith]

>>you may feel like you never want to go into a movie theater again

Movie theaters are a great environment to pick up bedbugs.

*Open long hours

*Every 2.5-3 hours a new set of people settle in

*Dark environment so casual inspection of dark red seats conceal a reddish bug

* Bedbugs exposure is about sharing

[central_va]

I've never been to Spain.

[TianaHighrider]

😳
going to be a hermit now.

[VanShuyten]

I’d rather hear Elvis’ own opinion on this.

[Sans-Culotte]

Sounds like a typical Luhrman overly dazzling movie. I’ve yet to see a film by him I’ve liked.

[Deaf Smith]

I was in pest control for 7.5 years.

Left after I set several documented Dumpster Fires in corporate.

[7thson]

I saw the film and liked it. I think it shows Elvis for what he truly was - an uneducated, country hick - almost white trash - that had an amazing voice, natural talent, and an natural showman. It showed Parker not as a hero but as the scumbag con artist that he was who saw the golden goose and latched on to it. A very powerful scene in the film is when Elvis finally realizes he has been taken for a ride and fires Parker during a concert. Then later discovers that Parker has him over a barrell financial wise Not really though. Elvis had to many sycophants around him and nobody to guide him in the right direction. I think if he obtained decent legal representation at the time he fired Parker, he could have come out ahead. Show in court that Parker was cheating him. At the end he just accepted his fate.

As a side not, I would like to see a biopic on Frank Sinatra. A decent biopic would have to to run as multiple episodes.

[basalt]

the ones that ruined his career??

[proust]

Every single Elvis movie (31 total) turned a profit. That makes him one of the most successful actors in the history of movies.

[Jamestown1630]

Amazing talent, even when he was failing.

[basalt]

and ruined his career...pre Army Elvis was a badass...a trail blazer...after Army Elvis became a caricature...

[TianaHighrider]

😁👍

[minnesota_bound]

Kurt Russell has fun memories.

The Best Elvis Presley Stories On The Graham Norton Show!
https://youtu.be/99brC0HDO_Y?t=68
Note the vile look and snark of snl non comedian Tina Fey.

Liza Minnelli has a funny story.