Elvis needs a little more conversation, a little less action

The films of Baz Luhrmann (even the good ones, such as Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet) have often been criticised for the Australian’s maximalist approach, in which style trumps substance, sensation outpaces emotion, and euphoria is the ultimate goal. Loud, garish and energetically spectacular, Luhrmann’s kaleidoscopic method seems, on the surface, to be a good fit for an opulent biopic of the King of Rock 'n’ Roll – but Elvis, like so much of ...