(Did John really come up with “Tiny Dancer” while surveying the late-night party scene at Mama Cass’ house? Probably not, but it’s evocative of a specific place and time.) is also where John hooks up with manager John Reid (a menacingly sexy Richard Madden) and truly launches into a life of debauchery.
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Tate Donovan is such a hoot as legendary nightclub owner Doug Weston, he makes you want to see an entire movie about him and all the acts that made their names there in the ‘60s and ‘70s. “Rocketman” hits all the key notes: his connection with Taupin in the late 1960s and the early seeds of their enduring collaboration the development of his stage name and trademark style and his star-making performance at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.
That may be true, but it also seems rather simplistic. “Rocketman” suggests that John’s creative life-nay, his entire eye-catching persona – has been an elaborate attempt to gain his parents’ love and approval, and that his substance abuse has been a method of numbing the pain of their rejection. Cut to John’s youth (when he was still Reginald Dwight), a piano prodigy with a judgmental, emotionally withholding father (Steven Mackintosh) and a distant, promiscuous mother (a distractingly miscast Bryce Dallas Howard). But while he has your attention, he may as well tell you a little story.
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When we first see John, he’s storming into an AA meeting in full regalia, a whirlwind of feathers and crystals, fresh from the stage. Again, these sporadic glimmers of greatness are welcome, but they also make you wish that the filmmakers had applied such daring throughout. And in an especially inspired move, John’s longtime collaborator and close friend, songwriter Bernie Taupin (a lovely Jamie Bell), performs “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” at a breaking point between the two men. The quiet and intimacy of seeing John find his way through “Your Song” at a piano in the living room is also surprisingly effective. This is especially true of “ Rocket Man,” which flows so beautifully and covers such substantial ground, it’s like a mini-movie unto itself. And that’s tough, given that John’s songs have been standards on the radio, in movies and in tourist-trap, sing-along piano bars since the 1970s.
Director Dexter Fletcher and writer Lee Hall frequently arrange and stage the musical numbers in such inventive ways, they achieve a new level of meaning in the lyrics and almost make you feel as if you’re hearing them for the first time. It is almost enough in itself – but it’s also enough to make you wish the film surrounding him were as brash and gutsy.Īnd at times, it is. He gets the vibe right and he has a genuine, appealing screen presence. He doesn’t look or sound exactly like John, and that’s probably preferable to doing a straight-up impression. That includes doing all his own singing, which adds an element of accessibility that, say, “ Bohemian Rhapsody” lacks (and we’ll get to all the inevitable comparisons in a moment).
Previously best known for his starring role in the action-comedy “Kingsman” movies, Egerton truly gives it his all – you can see the effort on display here in what was clearly a physically and emotionally arduous role. Egerton gives a performance with such thrills and vulnerability, such charisma and pathos, that it’s hard not to be wowed. (The two even gave a duet performance together after the rapturous “Rocketman” premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month.) This is not exactly a warts-and-all portrayal even moments of John’s selfish and self-destructive behavior eventually are fodder for a greater redemption tale.Īnd yet … and yet. But Elton John himself is very much alive and a part of the production, serving as an executive producer on the film and an adviser to Taron Egerton, the young actor who plays him with great gusto. It’s all very safe in terms of its structure and the ultimately uplifting story it’s trying to tell – ironically so, given that it’s presenting the life of a man who took risks with his larger-than-life, wildly flamboyant stage persona.
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