Page 27 - Boca ViewPointe - November '22

November 2022 Viewpointe, Page 27
Film Review: Elvis

By Nils A. Shapiro Clearly, it was not film, as described above, I should note that both Priscilla Presley
the music in the film that and Lisa-Marie Presley – Elvis’s and Priscilla’s daughter – have
This newly released film bothered me, nor the confirmed this film’s portrayal of the kind of man he was ... and
biography of Elvis Presley is casting of Austin Butler especially applaud Austin Butler’s performance.
certain to be nominated for in the lead role. In fact, Baz Luhrmann’s celebrated flair for the dramatic turns out
several Academy Awards, I ordered the soundtrack to be a gift for us all: a final scene of the real Elvis Presley at
and will very likely win more CD the very next day, the end of his career, accompanying himself on the piano for a
than one of them. Directed which had immediately solo of Unchained Melody, sweat rolling down the now puffy
by Baz Luhrmann of Moulin reached top spot on the features of a famous, still somewhat handsome baby face.
Rouge fame, who also soundtrack charts. My recommendation: Elvis is definitely worth your time,
cowrote the screenplay, Elvis But the more I thought even if for the music alone ... and the bonus of enjoying Austin
– which was released in the about it, I realized that – Butler’s debut. 
U.S. just five months ago this past June – is already the second shockingly, to me – it was
highest-grossing music biopic in film history (after the Freddie the casting of the always
Mercury/Queen Bohemian Rhapsody success), having already reliable Tom Hanks as Watch Your Speed!
racked up $285 million in box office revenue on a production Col. Tom Parker, Elvis
budget of $85 million! Presley’s manager. Parker had literally been a carnival
So why is it that, after having watched Elvis on HBO Max “huckster” when he discovered the as yet unknown young Elvis Speeding fines are being
two nights ago, I keep asking myself, “What is it about this film singing, with his already trademark wiggling moves, and saw the enforced! Fine schedule: 6-20
that disturbed me and left me in a down mood?” effect and sexual appeal he had on all of the girls in the audience. mph over the limit $50 and more
After all, the many musical numbers are uniformly He convinced Elvis to sign him as exclusive agent, receiving than 21 mph over the limit $100.
sensational; Austin Butler as Elvis is my bet to walk away with 50 percent of all the young man’s future career earnings – an Please obey the posted speed limit
the Best Actor Oscar with a performance so perfect that, between important coup for a man with a ruinous gambling habit. signs and drive safely! 
his facial likeness to Elvis and his own hip-wiggling moves, at Parker, a man I knew little about before this film, had
times I had to step closer to my TV set to be sure there were obviously been rather corpulent, which made it necessary for
no editing switches going on. Even his vocals – Butler’s own the make-up artists to create body and face prosthetics for Tom
during the scenes of Presley’s early career – are convincingly Hanks that are uncomfortably jarring, disconcerting and just
similar to the King’s himself. At one point in the film, the real don’t work. Added to that is the screenplay’s tragically difficult- Current Events
Elvis Presley’s voice takes over in the song performances with to-accept presentation of Elvis as a completely naïve, innocent
Butler lip-syncing, but so seamlessly that it is impossible to young man helplessly manipulated by his evil, greedy, gambling
discern any difference. addicted manager who – in order to keep his world-renowned Group
But it is not only Elvis Presley’s music that enlivens this client earning money – pressures him into constant, year-round
film, which makes clear from the outset that – after his early performances that leads to him getting hooked on the drugs that
childhood in a poor Mississippi family, when they move to eventually lead to the star’s death at the age of 42. The Current Events Group meet every Monday from
Memphis – young Elvis falls in love with the local rhythmic In between are the better-known aspects of Elvis’s life, 10am-11:30am at the BPCA office. The members consist
African-American music of Beale Street. And it is how he adapts including Segregationist Mississippi Senator James Eastland’s of both men and women and all Boca Pointe residents are
this music to his own style that is to make him America’s most outrage over the singer’s “overtly sexual” performances that he invited to attend. If you would like more information or
famous entertainer. claims are dangerous to the nation’s young women – a threat to sign up, please call 516-835-2670. 
The film incorporates examples of this African-American that leads to Elvis’s being drafted into the Army and sent to
music with a number of brilliantly staged numbers made popular Germany where he meets Priscilla, whom he will later marry.
by such performers as Little Richard, B.B. King, Arthur “Big (Unmentioned in the film is the fact that Priscilla is only 14
Boy” Crudup, and especially Big Mama Thornton–all portrayed years of age when she starts dating Elvis.)
on screen by very competent performers. Despite my own misgivings about certain aspects of this