It's a portrait of a face full of wounds, warts and wonders.

Unlike previous documentaries, this one focuses on the star's life more than his music and gives the best hints yet of why Presley's skyrocket ride to stardom led him to self-destruct.

The movie's lesson is brutal, sad, and inescapable: Elvis Presley was a man who gave joy to a great many people but felt very little of his own, because he became addicted and stayed addicted until the day it killed him.

This Is Elvis is at its best when focusing on archival footage but this docudrama depends way too much on reenactment footage during the first half, for better or worse.