Elvis

Some films feature montage sequences - short shots traditionally used to present a lot of information in a short period of time. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is all montage, all the time, and not at all short: it’s two hours and 40 minutes of exhausting quick cuts, crane zooms, split screens, close-ups, and flashbacks coupled with a soundtrack that includes not only Elvis’s classics but also gospel and R&B and contemporary hip-hop and rock all dialed up to blistering screech. The film is ambitious, gaudy, loud, and long - offering a subtle condemnation of Elvis’s long-time manager, Colonel Tom Parker (played unconvincingly like a Foghorn Leghorn caricature by a prosthetics-laden Tom Hanks), and suggesting that Elvis (naive and manipulable) realized too late that he was “caught in a trap.” Luhrmann’s frenetic style - you’ll know this if you seen Romeo + Juliet or Moulin Rouge or The Great Gatsby - rarely permits real emotion to develop, relying instead on artifice and glitz. The few moments that head toward pathos - Elvis with his mom (admirably played by Australian actress Helen Thomson), Elvis with BB King, and Elvis with Priscilla - are quickly swept aside for glaring spectacle. Ultimately, the film is worth watching: As Elvis, Austin Butler is mesmerizing (I must confess that there were a few times when he gazed at the camera that I thought I might swoon) and the concert footage is electrifying. But give yourself three hours and watch it at home - you’ll need to take frequent breaks to catch your breath and let your ears have a rest.