go see Elvis. now.

https://ew.com/movies/elvis-austin-butler-cover-story/

I was surprised when James said he wanted to see this because judging from the trailer, it looked bombastic and embarrassing, at least to me. The young actor didn't look enough like Elvis, Tom Hanks's prosthetics looked clownish, and the use of anachronistic music and vulgar style just seemed so gross. So we went and saw it and all I can say is, go see it. It is an American tragedy and the sensory overload-style well-reflects the story of a beautiful god-touched-down-to-Earth who lost his life, swallowed by fame and the greed of his handler. Austin Butler was uncanny as Elvis in voice and physicality, excepting those moments in closeup early on, creating disconnect because he did not resemble Elvis (but who ever has?). In retrospect, I think it was important to give the audience those moments of disconnect because otherwise the movie was submergingly overwhelming. Tom Hanks's clownish makeup really was appropriate because the colonel was a clown, a snowman, a con man of the circus. All the anachronistic stuff, well it was secondary because the movie was about emotion, not verisimilitude. So what I realized was that everything makes sense once you see the movie. My only remaining complaint is that the casting director could have done a better job of finding actors who resembled the real people such a Sam Phillips and Vernon Presley. Overall, Elvis 2022 was a devastating shock and a total movie-going experience. I was blubbering at the very end with the final reveal of the real Elvis, bloated but still beautiful and ruined by the world. James walked out to go to the bathroom at that moment so I couldn't see if he took it that hard, but he too thought it was quite a film.