Elvis Presley is an only child from a poor family in Mississippi with a dream of making it big as a singer. His career takes off after a local studio cuts his record and plays it on the radio. But as Elvis moves on to bigger records, lucrative contracts and national fame, he becomes increasingly isolated, unfulfilled and temperamental. Can he take the pressure ?
Whatever you might think of his music, there is no denying that Elvis Presley's influence on rock and roll and popular culture is greater than any other artist. His image and style are almost beyond iconic, and if one man defines what it is to be an American, then it is surely him. This is a great biopic which traces his roots in Mississippi and Tennessee, his big break at Sun Records, his exceptionally close relationship with his mother, his army years, his movie stints, his increasing isolation at Graceland and his triumphant comeback to live performance in Las Vegas in 1969. The movie documents all this closely, but with a cool, detached style; we see Elvis make it big and then crack up from the point of view of others around him and we sympathise with him more as a result. Russell is stunning in this part, capturing Elvis' joy of performing, his love of his family, his rage at the extreme circumstances he's forced into and his sense of his own mortality. The supporting cast are all terrific too, particularly Winters and Hubley, and despite its length and TV origins the action never drags or feels bland. Carpenter may seem an unusual choice to direct this but I think it actually fits his auteur theme of isolation very well (who was ever more isolated than Elvis ?), he is a musician from a musical family, and he grew up in the Jim Crow South in the fifties. For such a big TV production, he reigns everything in tightly, with all the story threads running smoothly and never losing sight of the heart of the drama. Cult movie fans can also spot him in a walk-on; he's standing at the craps table in the casino when Elvis' security guy walks through it. There are a couple of obvious but unwarranted criticisms that have been made of this film. The first is that it isn't either Elvis or Russell's singing voice, it's actually country singer Ronnie McDowell. Whilst purists may disagree this does not spoil things; this is a drama about Elvis, and the music is there partly to tell his story and to underline certain defining moments. It's not a showcase of his work - for that, simply buy his records. The second is that the story stops in 1969 and doesn't deal with Presley's troubled later years, but so what ? The movie is about the man's life, not his death. It's about what he achieved and what it did to him, and it doesn't shy away from his problems or the self-destructive side of his nature. Written and produced by Anthony Larence (who co-authored three of Presley's sixties movies) and financed by the music / gameshow mogul Dick Clark, this was originally shown on the ABC network but also given a limited theatrical release in Europe and Australia. If possible, try to see the excellent Shout Factory DVD release of this TV-movie; not only is it an excellent quality image, but it's presented in the 1.78:1 aspect-ratio it was originally shot in.
Whatever you might think of his music, there is no denying that Elvis Presley's influence on rock and roll and popular culture is greater than any other artist. His image and style are almost beyond iconic, and if one man defines what it is to be an American, then it is surely him. This is a great biopic which traces his roots in Mississippi and Tennessee, his big break at Sun Records, his exceptionally close relationship with his mother, his army years, his movie stints, his increasing isolation at Graceland and his triumphant comeback to live performance in Las Vegas in 1969. The movie documents all this closely, but with a cool, detached style; we see Elvis make it big and then crack up from the point of view of others around him and we sympathise with him more as a result. Russell is stunning in this part, capturing Elvis' joy of performing, his love of his family, his rage at the extreme circumstances he's forced into and his sense of his own mortality. The supporting cast are all terrific too, particularly Winters and Hubley, and despite its length and TV origins the action never drags or feels bland. Carpenter may seem an unusual choice to direct this but I think it actually fits his auteur theme of isolation very well (who was ever more isolated than Elvis ?), he is a musician from a musical family, and he grew up in the Jim Crow South in the fifties. For such a big TV production, he reigns everything in tightly, with all the story threads running smoothly and never losing sight of the heart of the drama. Cult movie fans can also spot him in a walk-on; he's standing at the craps table in the casino when Elvis' security guy walks through it. There are a couple of obvious but unwarranted criticisms that have been made of this film. The first is that it isn't either Elvis or Russell's singing voice, it's actually country singer Ronnie McDowell. Whilst purists may disagree this does not spoil things; this is a drama about Elvis, and the music is there partly to tell his story and to underline certain defining moments. It's not a showcase of his work - for that, simply buy his records. The second is that the story stops in 1969 and doesn't deal with Presley's troubled later years, but so what ? The movie is about the man's life, not his death. It's about what he achieved and what it did to him, and it doesn't shy away from his problems or the self-destructive side of his nature. Written and produced by Anthony Larence (who co-authored three of Presley's sixties movies) and financed by the music / gameshow mogul Dick Clark, this was originally shown on the ABC network but also given a limited theatrical release in Europe and Australia. If possible, try to see the excellent Shout Factory DVD release of this TV-movie; not only is it an excellent quality image, but it's presented in the 1.78:1 aspect-ratio it was originally shot in.