Elvis and Everything Everywhere All at Once

A movie review of Elvis and Everything Everywhere All at Once by Mike Peros.
A movie review of Elvis and Everything Everywhere All at Once by Mike Peros.

A movie review of Elvis and Everything Everywhere All at Once

If you’re expecting Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis to be the definitive film bio of Elvis Presley, the entertainment icon, you’re coming to the wrong movie. The Hollywood career is barely touched on, his decline follows along a generic path, and the structure makes you think the movie is about someone other than Elvis (more about that later). 

It is, however, reasonably entertaining with several moments of movie magic, courtesy of Austin Butler’s terrific performance as Elvis—the script lets him down, but he does a great job capturing the essence of the Elvis persona, both onstage and off. (Butler’s own vocals are predominant in the early Elvis performances, while Elvis’s vocals figure in the later performance recreations.) The most effective and emotionally resonant sections have to do with Elvis in performance. Three sequences stand out: One where is his first performance wherein he is heckled by the more macho members of the audience—until he lets loose with the gyrations, sending the female members into a frenzy; another is when he comes under fire for his “indecent” behavior” and finds himself torn between being the Elvis that the “decency watchdogs” want him to be, or the Elvis that he and the fans need him to be (no spoiler alert needed for how that turns out); and the sequence concerning the filming of Elvis’ Christmas special, in which you see the tug-of-war between Elvis and the “Colonel.”

So this is the first time I’ve mentioned “The Colonel” but it’s not the first time you see him in the movie. In this interpretation of Presley’s life and career, one might almost think the focus is on Colonel Tom Parker, since the film opens with the Colonel almost on his death bed and intent on setting the record straight about his influence on Elvis’ life. And since Parker is played by Tom Hanks in a no-holds-barred, ham-handed manner, complete with unidentifiable accent and malevolence practically tattooed on his heavily made-up forehead, one can understand why the filmmakers went with this—without necessarily condoning this. 

But back to the Christmas show—as the movie relates the taping, the show was being done in the months after Martin Luther King’s assassination (and soon before Robert Kennedy’s assassination). The network and Parker want a traditional Christmas show, Elvis wants to do something more meaningful, given his social conscience (and love of gospel), and as the network gets more concerned, Parker’s focus seems to be on Elvis performing ‘Here Comes Santa Claus’ (Hanks’ countless repetitions of that song title do prove to be amusing.) Whether it all went down as the movie says, and fact-checkers will have a field day after watching the film, but it’s in these performance scenes that capture Elvis, as we’d like to think of him: passionate, in fine voice, with both his audience and himself in mind. 

Elvis has many flaws: it’s overlong, it’s a tad repetitive, the Elvis that we see would seem almost incapable of the gaffes the film presents, and there’s little new in terms of his downfall (which seems both protracted and undeveloped in the film). But in the performances, both early and late (and with an assist from the real Elvis), this new Elvis at least provides a few insights into why one might care—and perhaps encourage one to put a record of his on the turntable.

Via https://a24films.com/films/everything-everywhere-all-at-once

If you haven’t seen Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere all at Once, I think now may be a good time to see it. As written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, the film contains everything in an exuberant, emotionally engaging and exhilarating package. It’s a family drama in which Yeoh’s beleaguered Asian laundry owner is facing challenges from both the IRS (represented by a punctilious Jamie Lee Curits) and from within her own family: her daughter is a lesbian, her husband may want a divorce, and she’s afraid her traditional father won’t accept her daughter’s girlfriend—and so refers to her as the “friend.” Yeoh is at a point where she is both examining and questioning her life choices when she is made aware of “alternative multiverses”—worlds that were created in the aftermath of her choices, and where alternative versions of Yeoh (and family) exist. 

My fear in discussing this is I’ll make it seem too abstract, but I tell you, once you accept the premise (which shouldn’t be too much of a leap for Marvel fans), Everything Everywhere All at Once proves to be a hugely entertaining. It is also however about choices and consequences, family, the Asian-American experience, alienation and rebellion, and the various facets of love and hate—but none of these keep the film from also registering as both an exciting and moving cinematic experience. Those who knew Yeoh from either her early action films or her icy portrayal in Crazy Rich Asians will have much to rejoice over: his timing is impeccable, the wealth and depth of feeling she brings to her role is enormously effective, and her kung-fu skills are still sharp as ever (especially in the scenes where she discovers her athletic prowess). There is also sterling support from Stephanie Hsu as Yeoh’s disenchanted daughter, James Hong as Yeoh’s stern father, Ke Huy Quan as Yeoh’s supportive but conflicted husband (Quan made his mark as a child actor as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and is making a welcome return after being away for twenty-five years), and Jamie Lee Curtis as Yeoh’s nemesis…among other things. To say more would give things away, so I hope you’ll give this innovative film a try, either in theaters (highly recommended) or on streaming services when it appears.

Mike Peros
Mike Peros is an author whose new book, JOSE FERRER: SUCCESS AND SURVIVAL, the first biography of the Oscar and Tony-winning actor, has just been published by the University Press of Mississippi, while his previous book, DAN DURYEA: HEEL WITH A HEART is now available in paperback.