burntfrijoles
Poster Extraordinaire
I saw the Elvis film today. I was pleasantly surprised by it. Overall it’s a very fine film. Plus there is some nice guitar porn in the movie.
While it’s told through the narration of Colonel Parker, it does not by any means vindicate or reform Parker’s reputation regarding his financial exploitation of Elvis or his role in a Elvis’ physical /emotional demise.
Austin Butler is superb in his role as Elvis. He captures Elvis speaking style, mannerisms and his stage presence, including his famous moves. Many forget that Elvis was quite skinny in his early years and Butler pulls that off very well but his resemblance is eery in the scenes of the 68 comeback special and early Vegas shows. I was surprised at how well the actor and the Director pulled that off. He also does a great job at singing Elvis’ early material. Apparently he did much of that on his own except for some of the later material where his voice was blended with Elvis’s actual voice.
Some of the film is not historically accurate and some scenes are amalgams of different events. It also glosses over or doesn’t touch over many of the more sordid aspects of his life. So it disappoints in some aspects but it’s a complex story.
It was a nice trip down lane for an old geezer like me. It’s not my generation’s music but I appreciate it. I don’t think any movie could show the overall cultural impact Elvis made. He took rock n roll mainstream from much of the pablum of the day. He broke through in a stifling period of conventional and puritanical pervasiveness.
While it’s told through the narration of Colonel Parker, it does not by any means vindicate or reform Parker’s reputation regarding his financial exploitation of Elvis or his role in a Elvis’ physical /emotional demise.
Austin Butler is superb in his role as Elvis. He captures Elvis speaking style, mannerisms and his stage presence, including his famous moves. Many forget that Elvis was quite skinny in his early years and Butler pulls that off very well but his resemblance is eery in the scenes of the 68 comeback special and early Vegas shows. I was surprised at how well the actor and the Director pulled that off. He also does a great job at singing Elvis’ early material. Apparently he did much of that on his own except for some of the later material where his voice was blended with Elvis’s actual voice.
Some of the film is not historically accurate and some scenes are amalgams of different events. It also glosses over or doesn’t touch over many of the more sordid aspects of his life. So it disappoints in some aspects but it’s a complex story.
It was a nice trip down lane for an old geezer like me. It’s not my generation’s music but I appreciate it. I don’t think any movie could show the overall cultural impact Elvis made. He took rock n roll mainstream from much of the pablum of the day. He broke through in a stifling period of conventional and puritanical pervasiveness.
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