When we originally saw the trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” our initial thought was, “Wow, that looks pretty good!” Our second thought was, “But what’s the deal with Tom Hanks’ accent?” Still, this is Tom Hanks after all, so we decided to tone down our “Suspicious Minds,” even if the accent did seem to be … a lot. Well, turns out we probably should have gone with our gut instinct. According to Variety, Tom Hanks’ accent was the most polarizing part of the movie, with critics not showing his performance much “Burning Love.” Hanks even avoided questions about it during a press conference, preferring to talk about how he researched the character instead. 

In “Elvis,” Hanks plays Presley’s longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker, the man who discovered the boy wonder and turned him into the King of Rock & Roll. He’s also the antagonist of the story, which may explain why Hanks seems to be channeling Bond villain Auric Goldfinger with his accent. According to Biography, Col. Tom Parker was born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk in Breda, Netherlands, despite Parker’s own claims that he was born in West Virginia. Hanks adopts a thick Dutch accent in the film — one that borders a bit on a “Saturday Night Live”-level caricature. Based on rare interview footage with the real Col. Tom Parker, in which his Dutch accent is barely discernible, we think Hanks’ accent might have been “All Shook Up.”