Rocketman

The first Elton John song I recall hearing was in fact "Rocket Man".  It was in my father's old Dodge, the one he'd purchased back in NY in the early '70s.  By now it was the mid '70s, and WIRK-AM in West Palm Beach was often on the dial.  The line from the song,  "In fact it's cold as hell." was a bit bewildering to my six or seven year old brain.  But it began my continuing appreciation of the music of the man born as Reginald Kenneth Dwight, a shy kid from Middlesex who would go on to sell millions of records and sell out concert halls for decades.  A flamboyant artist, as temperamental as you might expect someone of his talent to be.  The press was of course never shy to splash the details of his sexual preferences and substance abuse across headlines.

This year's ROCKETMAN is another rock bio, one at the heels of last year's box office smash BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY.  It was directed by Dexter Fletcher, who took over for Bryan Singer on the earlier film.  So we get his singular, presumably undiluted vision, one that, unlike the Queen story, more willingly and explicitly embraces the darker side of fame.  A more adult take.  Elton John (Taron Egerton) indulged in sex and drugs, and this movie does not shy away from the behind the bedroom door moments, which to my eyes were nothing over the line, nothing that didn't fit or serve the story.  You can always argue if a sex scene is necessary and how much of it should be seen.  I read that ROCKETMAN is the first major studio film to show gay (non explicit) intercourse.  Fletcher composes a brief but passionate moment for Elton and manager John Reid (Richard Madden) that may be historic for Hollywood.  As honest a moment this movie could possibly have for its subject.

The film's trailers made it seem that ROCKETMAN would be a start to finish musical fantasy, ala TOMMY.  I thought that would be a fresh approach, but what we get are glitzy set pieces now and again that are shoe leathered by a fairly standard biography, with attempts at heart thumping drama that to me were curiously unmoving, at least until the closing scenes.  And we get another tried framing device.   Like that of many such films, the time line is skipped through and rushed.  I wanted so much more of Elton's relationship with his lyricist Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell). Their scenes are quite nice.   Focusing only on them might have made this enterprise more effective.

Egerton, it must be said, is excellent.  He really seems to embody Elton John at every moment, on and offstage.  I feel it is Oscar worthy.  His renditions of most of the singer's best known tunes are surprisingly decent, even if some of the re-arrangements of them are questionable.  I applaud ROCKETMAN for its refusal to whitewash Elton John's colorful life, and despite the film's occasional pacing issues I had a good time of it.