Elvis came out last summer and was a smash hit grossing over 151 million domestically. Elvis is a biopic about Elvis Presley and his manager Colonel Tom Parker. Elvis is directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, and Richard Roxburgh.

Elvis is nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Austin Butler. I was able to see this on the big screen in honor of the Oscars this upcoming weekend. I will say that Austin Butler does a phenomenal job as Elvis Presley. He really embodies the role. I think his Oscar nomination is well deserved and well earned. Will he win the Oscar? I think he has a good shot at winning but we’ll see how that plays out. Tom Hanks was also a stand out of the movie as Colonel Tom Parker and unrecognizable. Tom Hanks gives quite the performance. The movie is set from his perspective. I thought that was an interesting choice. I wonder what it would have been like if the movie was from Elvis’ perspective. Nevertheless, Elvis has a lot of screen time. The movie really is about Elvis and Colonel Parker and their business relationship. Colonel Parker was instrumental in Elvis’ career.

The movie was directed by Baz Luhrmann, and it felt like a Baz Luhrmann production. Baz Lurhmann directed The Great Gatsby with Leonardo Dicaprio, Australia, Moulin Rouge!, and Romeo + Juliet which also starred Leonardo Dicaprio. The trailers alone made it seem similar to The Great Gatsby in style. I have not seen The Great Gatsby. This observation is based off the trailers for The Great Gatsby. Also, The Great Gatsby’s soundtrack used hiphop whereas Elvis spawned the smash hit single Vegas by Doja Cat. The Elvis soundtrack has a mix of songs spanning different genres including hiphop. Both of these films had contemporary music given both films were also period pieces. In this case most of the music featured in the movie are Elvis Pressley songs. Most of the modern songs on the soundtrack are not in the film itself. Doja Cat Vegas is featured in the movie a little bit. The only other film I saw by Baz Lurhmann is Moulin Rouge! which I enjoyed. That is another film that uses contemporary music while the film is a period piece.

I found the movie frenetic at times. It seemed a bit all over the place especially when it opened. This may have been a deliberate choice to show the whirlwind that this journey takes for both Elvis and Colonel Parker. As a biopic it was a bit different than the usual structure for these types of films. It seems to fit in Baz Lurhmann’s wheelhouse when looking at his other films especially those that are period pieces which seem to be most of them. The best comparison I can make is the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody which I saw back in January. That movie heavily focused on Whitney Houston’s career and her music which Elvis does as well. The movie touches on key events in Elvis’ life but a big chunk of the film is also about the music and his performances. The movie blends real footage of Elvis Pressley with the movie. I thought that was done effectively. The movie’s ending is similar to the Whitney Houston biopic. Given both artists died tragically, it was always going to be interesting to see how each film would handle their deaths. In the Whitney Houston movie it did not show Whitney’s death. Elvis does the same thing. I found that an interesting choice.

The movie briefly touches on Elvis’ drug addiction but late in the movie. It does cover his relationship with Priscilla Presley a little bit. It did not really go that in depth with it. It felt like Priscilla was more of a background character. It would have been nice to see more of that relationship. There is a snapshot of it and that might be what the intention was.

Elvis is an interesting biopic that has stellar performances by Austin Butler and Tom Hanks. I am a little surprised Tom Hanks did not get nominated for an Oscar given he also gave a transformative performance. Elvis’ strong suit is the music and there is plenty of music in the movie. Will Elvis win any Oscars? I think it has a good shot at winning some. I think Austin Butler does deserve to win the Oscar for his performance. It truly is a breakout performance. Does it deserve to win Best Picture? I am curious to see if it will win Best Picture. Personally, I don’t think it necessarily should win. The frenetic pace of the movie made it a bit hard to enjoy at times. The movie felt a little long too. It is hard for me to say if I enjoyed the movie. I am not really sure how I felt about it. I was invested in watching the movie. I will say the movie improved once the frenetic pacing calmed down. Once it picked a focus, it made a difference.