Alex D

Typically my philosophy is that no film should go over 2 hours and it’s masturbatory for the director to do so. But “Elvis” makes the most of its long runtime, and I think it’s Baz Luhrmann at his finest. He seems to have more restraint than he did in “Gatsby” and “Moulin Rouge” and other films and greater attention to detail —he has finely tuned the tools that made his maximalist style noteworthy to tell a story that is never slow and is compelling even if you’re not an Elvis fan. Great acting all around doesn’t hurt either — kudos to Austin Butler for being able to more than hold his own in scenes with the legendary Tom Hanks (who isn’t at his best playing the villain) and to really disappear into this character. One of the best executed musician biopics I’ve seen.