Daniel Radcliffe and Harry Potter are all growed up and transformed into Elton John. 75%

Rating: 7/10 (5 July 2019)

This is the truthy story of Elton John (the pop-rock musical phenomenon who composed the song "Rocket man", from which this film takes its title), from his time as a young boy who turned out to be a child prodigy on the piano, to the coda where we find out where Elton is at in his life right now. Like a Hollywood (or Bollywood, going on one scene in this film!) musical, the cast often breaks out into song - Elton's, naturally! - with various cast members singing, usually Taron Egerton, playing Elton, as well as other actors sharing the vocal duties with him. Mostly you hear fragments of songs, so be aware that you won't be hearing the original recordings as sung by Elton himself.
Often in this film I would be wondering: "Did that really happen?". Seeing that Elton and his partner are listed as producers, I would hope that much of the dialogue which made me take notice did, in fact, take place. By "made me take notice", I mean comments made to or by Elton, which were especially cutting or what have you. They could be read as being particularly telling or illuminating about the people involved.
Often in this film it's quite obvious that what is depicted did not happen, which is why I say that the story has a "truthy" quality to it. In fact, there are moments when magic realism is deployed...to good effect, at times. One such time involves Elton's first performance (from memory), in the US. Perhaps at the end of the film, an actual photograph of that performance is shown, which would naturally lead to the magical realism treatment of that moment. On a related matter, I remember years ago seeing a photo of a Buddhist man, I assume, levitating off the ground. The photo would have been presented as actually depicting that. However, many years later (and ago), I saw footage, I believe, of something of that sort. The video gives the lie to the saying "the camera never lies"! Spookily, having looked up that phrase just now, I see that it is also the title of a song by Elton!
Another example of the 'truthy' element to this film...I'd wonder if Elton really did write a song at a certain point in time. Then I'd hear a song which I KNEW was definitely not of that era! Sticklers for accuracy, you have been warned! It's magic realism, people!
There is one scene where Elton is kissed by an African American music artist, before Elton had begun his solo career. I wondered if that really happened. Was it true, or truthy? Since I've been aware that Elton mostly composed the music to his songs (and not the lyrics), I also wondered if he really did write the lyrics to "Your song", which the film gives the impression that he did. Even though that song isn't a favourite of mine, I must say that it evoked the most powerful emotional response in me of any scene in this film. Not affecting me quite so much, but I did note a moment in Elton's final therapy session, where he is asked a question which he has often asked himself. That was also moving, but I can't say that it made a lot of sense to me in the context of this film, as I didn't get the sense that this was a relationship in which it was germane to express that sentiment. Perhaps that sense could have been better expressed in the film? Maybe. In fact, there's one scene where Elton comments about how he feels about himself. Again, the film didn't show to me that Elton was feeling that way.
In any case, one of the themes of this film is how we perceive ourselves and what we imagine that people expect of us. Elton's private life, as shown in the film, could be viewed as a performance piece of what Elton imagined what was expected of him, as far as relationships and his persona went.
Told in broad-brush strokes and seemingly covering every dot point of Elton's life (not that I'd know), it did occur to me at the time, or after seeing the film, that I wished that we got to know Elton better, as the film often functions as a snapshot of his life. For instance:
* What happened to Elton's piano studies at the Royal Academy of Music?
* Who were his early childhood friends?
* What was his first relationship? If that was shown in the film, why not delve deeper into it?
* The film seems to imply that Elton made an immediate musical impact. I don't think that he did. I would have liked to have seen some scenes concerning this.
* Elton's relationship and marriage to a woman is briefly covered. The scene dealing with their married life was quite telling. Was it like that from day one, though?
* Elton mentions how promiscuous he was during one therapy session. There's nothing in the film to back that up.
* Elton's last marriage appears to be off limits, apart from some (literal) snapshots of his partner). It seems that Elton is being very protective of his privacy here...but maybe also throughout the film?
I suppose that my major criticism of this film is that what Elton says, for example, isn't clearly seen in the film, as is the case for his feelings for his manager. It therefore surprises to hear him say that.
Miscellaneous:
* Elton accounted for 5% of all records sales at one point, it's stated.
* I think that the real Elton gives one of the all-time great rock vocal performances in "Saturday night's all right". Wouldn't trade him for Plant or Mercury et. al!
* Sometimes Egerton reminds me of Elton (as opposed to Radcliffe!).
* The trailer for this film seems to have a scene that I didn't see in the film, where a receptionist, I think, says to Reginald: "That's my grandad's name!".