With electrifying performances from Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as Colonel Parker, Baz Luhrmann’s whirlwind biopic is cinematic dynamite
energy that throbs through Austin Butler’s titular performance here. An early scene of his pink-pegged Presley performing Baby, Let’s Play House on the Louisiana Hayride is pure cinematic dynamite, with the orgasmic reactions of girls in the crowd as elegantly choreographed as Elvis’s gyrations by movement maestro Polly Bennett.
No sooner has Presley made headlines than Parker has slipped his “wiggling boy” into the army, Luhrmann’s film falling in line with the increasingly popular notion that the colonel used Presley’s national service as a tool to give himself breathing space – room to control and neuter his creation. When Elvis gets out of the army, his rebellious zest is tamed by a string of anaemic Hollywood movies – money-spinning but moribund.
Cheeky but effective dramatic liberties are taken with the clashing plans for what became known as the ’looking down from the TV studio walls as everyone but the colonel wises up to the fact that the times they are a-changing. There’s nothing subtle about Parker banking on his prize dancing chicken clearing his gambling debts while Elvis belts out Suspicious Minds on stage, a lucrative residency at the Vegas International imprisoning him as clearly as Michael Corleone in
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Elvis review – blistering, turbocharged chronicle of the KingWith electrifying performances from Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as Colonel Parker, Baz Luhrmann’s whirlwind biopic is cinematic dynamite
Read more »
Elvis, Marilyn and Madonna — Why is Hollywood so obsessed with biopics?Elvis might be the latest biopic to hit theatres, but it won't be the last. With films on Marilyn Monroe, Madonna and more in the works, what's fuelling this booming genre of cinema?
Read more »
Devil in disguise? Elvis film starts a little more conversation about his managerAs audiences question the role of Elvis’ manager, the music remains the passionate heart of the story in Baz Luhrmann’s film.
Read more »
Elvis review – blistering, turbocharged chronicle of the KingWith electrifying performances from Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as Colonel Parker, Baz Luhrmann’s whirlwind biopic is cinematic dynamite
Read more »
Elvis, Marilyn and Madonna — Why is Hollywood so obsessed with biopics?Elvis might be the latest biopic to hit theatres, but it won't be the last. With films on Marilyn Monroe, Madonna and more in the works, what's fuelling this booming genre of cinema?
Read more »
Devil in disguise? Elvis film starts a little more conversation about his managerAs audiences question the role of Elvis’ manager, the music remains the passionate heart of the story in Baz Luhrmann’s film.
Read more »