If you’ve seen enough musical biopics, or at least watched
your fair share of Behind The Music,
then you recognize that they tend to follow a pattern: a bright eyed young
talent comes from nothing and rising to superstardom, develops an ego, loses
touch with their roots, alienates their friends, gets taken advantage of by a
sleazy manager, develops a drug problem, and flames out before pulling
themselves back up by reconnecting with the things that really matter. Rocketman, the fantastical big screen
tale of music legend Elton John (AKA, the best part of Kingsman: The Golden Circle) isn’t immune to this formula, but
stands out among its brethren by injecting it with some of the over-the-top
flights of fancy that made Elton such an icon in the first place.
Born Reginald Dwight and raised primarily by his mother
(Bryce Dallas Howard) and grandmother, Elton John (Taron Egerton) showed
promise from an early age. A piano prodigy from a young age, he has the uncanny
ability to play any song after hearing it just once, he quickly forsook his
classical training in favor of rock and roll, first as a backup musician and
then as a solo artist, finding creative kinship with lyricist Bernie Taupin
(Jamie Bell). But all the fame, fortune and cocaine in the world couldn’t save Elton
from his own insecurities and desperation to be loved. This leads him to
alienate everyone in his life and eventually fall into the pocket of his
lover/manager John Reid (Richard Madden), before he inevitably self-destructs
and checks into rehab.
That last part is the narrative frame through which this
film is presented. The opening scene shows him strutting down a nondescript
hallway decked out in an outrageous devil costume. At first, we think he’s
about to step onstage at Wembley or Madison Square Garden, only to reveal that
he’s entering a rehab clinic, where he recalls his life story to a small support
group (still dressed in a devil costume, of course, because he’s Elton fucking
John). A well-worn trope of the music biopic, but one that here gives more
lenience to the film’s chronology. Comparisons to Bohemian Rhapsody are unavoidable since they’re both cut from the
same cloth. Elton and Freddie Mercury’s stories have enough overlap to warrant
comparison, both being megastars in the 70’s and 80’s who spent a good amount
of that time in the closet, and Dexter Fletcher took over directing duties for Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer was
kicked out. But there are some key differences that make Rocketman more respectable and, dare I say it, even better.
One is that it doesn’t shy away from Elton’s struggles with
drug addiction and his identity as a gay man, both of which Elton (who has a
producing credit) fought to keep in the picture. Another is that this is a
jukebox musical where a grab bag of Elton’s greatest hits are used to set the
scene or convey a mood instead of interrupting the plot to present the jam
session that gave birth to them. There’s no scene of Elton and Bernie sitting
in a studio churning out “Bennie and the Jets”, but we do see him belt it out
as he slides into a cesspool of cocaine and orgies. And it doesn’t matter that
he’s performing “Crocodile Rock” at the Troubadour even though that show was in
1970 and that song didn’t come out until 1972 because it still captures the
magic of that show. But here the liberties it takes with reality are more
forgivable because they’re upfront about the fact that this isn’t the kind of
story they’re trying to tell. A more appropriate comparison would be Across the Universe, although Rocketman’s fantastical imagery isn’t
nearly as loaded or on the nose as Julie Taymor’s indulgent Beatles tinted ride
through the 60’s.
It helps a lot that the actors sing their own parts and do
it well, but the performance that really blew me away was Taron Egerton. I
guess the fact that he has pipes was no surprise to anyone who saw Sing, but this wasn’t so much a
performance as it was a transformation, one that could give Rami Malek a run
for his money. The rest of the cast pulls their weight, and although their
characterization is a bit shallow, their relationship with Elton is clearly
defined. Bryce Dallas Howard, unrecognizable as Elton’s mother, was more
affectionate compared to his virtually absent father, but could still be cold
and blunt at times, especially after he came out. Richard Madden’s turn as Jon
Reid seems at first like a well-meaning if a bit callous manager who makes Elton
comfortable in his own skin, but the toll their tempestuous relationship had on
him is still apparent. The real heart and soul of the movie is the friendship
between Elton and Bernie Taupin. Beyond being his creative kindred spirit (we
see his lyrics before we ever see his face), Bell’s turn as Taupin is the best
friend one could possibly ask for: one who stands by without judgment and never
moves no matter how much he’s pushed away. In the closest thing they ever have
to an argument, Elton immediately apologizes for lashing out at him, tow which Taupin
quietly responds, “I know.”
Bottom line, Rocketman is a fantastic spectacle that
doesn’t stray too far from the norm but aims for the stars and leaves the
audience afloat. It plays a bit fast and loose with reality as these types of
movies are wont to do, but it’s the best approach considering the subject at
hand is one of the most scintillating figures in music, and one that does him
justice.
8/10
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