Are You Elvis Tonight?

We’re not big Elvis fans, but I did want to see what Baz Luhrman did with Elvis (2022). But it was really Tom Hanks’ movie. 

Hanks plays Col. Tom Parker, a huckster and a showman. We meet him as an old man in a hospital in Las Vegas, then go into flashback.  He was running a carnival down South when he hears about this guy who sings like a black man - but he’s white! He goes to check him out at a show and sees the way he drives the girls wild. This is a great scene -  Austin Butler plays Elvis as if he’s trying in vain to suppress his sexiness, and the women in the audience can’t hold back either. So Parker signs him up, although the other act he’s managing, Hank Snow, isn’t impressed. 

From here we get what I would guess is a highly fictionalized account of Presley’s career. There’s quite a bit about Presley’s love of the black culture of Memphis’ Beale Street, including his friendship with B.B. King, because they frequented the same tailor. It skims over his movies, goes into his big comeback concert and his Vegas residency. Basically, Parker wanted him in Vegas because 1) he was a gambler, and 2) he was a stateless person who didn’t couldn’t leave the country. That meant he had to keep Presley from attempting a world tour. 

All this is filmed with Luhrman’s signature swirling, manic camera and surrealistic effects. It is supported by Butler’s strong Elvis impression, both as a young man and, with makeup and prosthetics, fat Elvis. But this is largely Hanks’ movie. His Parker has a weird Southern/Dutch accent which only makes sense when you learn his true background. Also, his prostheses are even more extreme than Butler’s. Maybe it’s too much. It’s an interesting role, but not very sympathetic. 

In the end, I found this fun, but not very moving. I didn’t feel like we really got inside Elvis, or even Parker. I’m not sure the songs were great, although we don’t particularly love Elvis, so that might be it. Weirdly, I think Kevin Spacey did a better job on Bobby Darin.