![]() ![]() ![]() He looks nothing like Elvis, and you still can believe him in the role. He goes above and beyond your average impersonator, let me tell you. Austin Butler on the other hand is a fabulous Elvis. Luckily, Elvis is so freewheeling in that classic Baz Lurhmann style, it's easy to forget how bad Hanks is here. What were they thinking? It takes you completely out of the movie. He's less reminiscent of the real man, and more like an Andy Kaufman character. This is easily his worst performance ever. Shadowing him throughout is Colonel Tom Parker, his devious, greedy and fame-starved manager. Elvis quickly breezes through the King's life, from his childhood in Tulepo, MS, to his glory days in Memphis, to the days in captivity in Las Vegas. ![]() But of course, you will need to suspend your disbelief and go for the ride that Baz takes you on. He may have been the best, and only director capable of making an Elvis biopic. If ever you wanted the King to get his epic due on the big screen, Baz Luhrmann has delivered it in spades. This doesn't feel like the biopic of a man, or an artist, but rather, a mythical Greek god. Elvis Presley, somewhere, is smiling down on this gaudy, golden-encrusted tribute of his. But is it entertaining as hell? You betcha. It's over-the-top, gluttonously indulgent, shamelessly embellished, dizzying, loud, flashy and in-your-face for the greater part of 2 and a 1/2 hours. No doubt about it, Roger Ebert will be missed! My heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and fans.Elvis is really something to behold. Roger deserved the various honors he received, which include a Pulitzer Prize for film criticism and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (I believe Roger followed his own advice and made sure his photo was seen on many of the terrific books he wrote.) “Put your picture on the cover just like Ganesh did,” he advised us. While discussing the movie with Roger after the screening, I mentioned to him that Larry and I identified with the main character because we had just finished co-writing a romantic memoir. "Put my picture on the cover," Ganesh - played brilliantly by Aasif Mandvi - insists to the publisher of his first book, a catechism about the Hindu religion. This film focused on one man’s burning desire to become an author. My husband and I had the good fortune to meet Roger several years ago at the Telluride Film Festival during the screening of The Mystic Masseur. In fact, Roger and his work helped motivate me to become a film critic. They never seemed formulaic, and he put so much of himself into everything he wrote. He was one of the finest film critics ever published - and also a great guy! ![]() Like so many movie fans, I’m very sad about Roger Ebert’s passing. ![]()
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