Directed by Baz Luhrmann — Screenplay by Baz Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner..

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always known who Elvis Presley was. I grew up in a loving home where Elvis Presley’s songs were often played over and over again. Both of my parents are Elvis super-fans. My father was nicknamed “Elvis,” when he was young. My mom likes to tell me that, at times, he really looked like him when they were both young. In school, one time I even did a presentation on the life and career of Elvis Presley at a final exam. It, then, goes without saying that the release of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley music biopic was something the family was very much looking forward to. Some of us were also quite nervous about whether it could work. Having now seen it, I can say that, in some ways, it is an excellent biopic that the Presley family should be incredibly happy with, but that it also is just as formulaic as the other music biopics that have been released these last few years. It pleases me to say that because of Luhrmann’s direction and Austin Butler’s performance it is more than just a run-of-the-mill biopic, though.