A no holds barred trip through the highs and lows of Elton John's life and music

Rating: 8/10 (20 June 2019)

This is a beautifully executed and apparently no limits applied cinematic journey through Elton John's life and music. I doubt it would have been so successful without Elton's role as executive producer - without his agreement, few directors and producers would have been brave enough to include some of the material shown. And the film is so good as a result of that.
As with most musical bio-pics, one's enjoyment of this film is heavily influenced by your liking or otherwise of the subject's music. And there is a lot of music in this, beautifully captured by Taron Egerton who did all his own singing.
Unless you're a close follower of Elton John's life and music, there is likely to be a lot of things you didn't know, even if you might have guessed. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it brought back many great memories of 1970s and 1980s parties accompanied by Elton's distinctive songs, and a couple of wonderful concerts from that era and later.
The locations, cast and pace of the film worked well, and it had a wonderful ring of authenticity. If you have choices in cinema, opt for the one with the best sound system, because the sound track makes a lot of demands in this area.