"Rocketman": Elton John's Story Transcends the Biopic Genre
When I arrived at ArcLight Hollywood for a member preview of "Rocketman" last Wednesday, my expectations were high. In the trailers the uncanny physical resemblance between Taron Egerton and the young Elton John impressed me, as did the faithful renderings of John's wardrobe, both street and stage. Most amazing of all, Egerton's singing voice approximated the younger Elton John's without lapsing into mimicry.
With me was my older sister, whose purchase of John's eponymous album in 1970 was my gateway to his music. Significantly, we'd both seen Elton in concert early in his career: she in Tokyo in October, 1971, during his first Japanese tour; and both of us two years later, when he played U.D. Arena in Dayton, Ohio. It was my first big concert, a sold out show in a basketball stadium. In contrast to my sister's Tokyo experience, which she remembers as "him and a piano in a concert hall," this one featured Elton's famous costumes, flashing eyeglasses and my first contact high. It was spectacular, though, like Bernie Taupin in the film, I would have preferred to see Elton alone with his piano.
All of this was going through my mind as my sister and I waited, in our Arclight-issued star-shaped sunglasses, for "Rocketman" to begin. I expected something along the lines of "Bohemian Rhapsody," but it soon became clear that "Rocketman" would be a very different experience: more musical than biopic, and a very ambitious musical at that. The first big number, "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting", features Matthew Illesley (one of two excellent actors who play Elton as a child) in a carnival setting with a large group of singing dancers. In a Broadway show, this would have been the climax; in "Rocketman" it's merely the opening salvo. Along the way to other big musical pieces, the movie compellingly recounts John's piano lessons, family strife, struggles to break into the music business, and his fateful pairing with the lyricist Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell, superb). Fame and fortune follow, but long before they arrive "Rocketman" had me in its grip.
Various critics have pointed out the many liberties John takes with events and the timeline. "Saturday Night's Alright" was years in the future for young Reggie, but suspending disbelief is easy during a big song-and-dance number. Far more jarring is Elton's playing "Crocodile Rock," a song he didn't write until 1972, at the 1970 Troubadour concert that made him an overnight star. Why not "Take Me To The Pilot," a barnburner he actually did play that night? Because, apparently, "Take Me To The Pilot" fit the sequence with John on his private jet. Another quibble: Taupin's giving John the lyrics for "Border Song" as an initial offering, when it happened a couple of years later. But details like this can't detract from the emotional truth of the story: a brilliant musician's journey through the crucible of world-wide fame.
Much as there is to love about "Rocketman," the thing that moved me (and my sister) most is the brotherly, highly creative relationship between Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Thrown together at random by their music publisher, the two men develop an instant, unbreakable bond that endures through life's highs and lows; it has now spanned 50 years. Though there are other love stories in "Rocketman," the one between John and Taupin is the most touching and enduring. A week later, as I contemplate seeing "Rocketman" again, I'm still thinking about it.