Rocketman (
Elton John’s life story gets the fullblown musical treatment in this exuberantly imagined tribute to the excess- all- areas glory days of his 1970s heyday. Shamelessly embracing the dreary conventions of the rise- fall- redemption story arc, the film, which stars Taron Egerton as Elton, frames his story as a mammoth therapy session, a groan- inducing conceit director Dexter Fletcher and
Billy Elliot screenwriter Lee Hall use to jump around the timeline of his life with theme- explicating lead- ins that have all the subtlety of a platform shoe banging out a piano solo. But if this approach initially makes the heart sink, the film soars when it stages Elton’s music as big West Endready song- and- dance numbers. As the film has it, music courses through every fibre of Elton’s being, and these show- stopping moments are a fun way of letting us understand the power music held over him, particularly as he transformed himself from a shy, bespectacled kid called Reginald Dwight into a worldconquering rock star. This approach also allows director Fletcher to be a little bold with the music, negating the need to dramatise song lyrics in the awkwardly literal way he did with The Proclaimers’ music in his adaptation of Sunshine on Leith. Not that this approach would have made much sense for Elton John given his lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, played here by Jamie Bell. Taupin and Elton’s working relationship is explored to some extent, but it offers little in the way of personal drama, largely because they’ve apparently never had an argument. Instead the drama comes from Elton’s destructive self- loathing, a symptom of never being hugged enough as a kid or loved enough as an adult. Right from the start we see that Elton never really got over his father’s lack of affection or his mother’s indifference. Consequently, when he falls for his burly Scottish manager, John Reid ( Richard Madden), his misplaced fear of being alone leads him to endure the emotionally abusive relationship that follows. Reid, of course, was also the manager of Queen and, as a character, featured in last year’s Bohemian
Rhapsody, which Fletcher also had a hand in directing, replacing the fired Bryan Singer. Of the two, this is the more enlightened in its depiction of its protagonist’s sexuality and Egerton does a good impression of Elton on and off stage. He’s a decent singer, wears the feather- boas with conviction and is good at delivering the tantrums. Above all, he’s able to capture how performers like John can turn it on when they need to – an elusive power that may be what’s kept him standing after all these years.