Spectacle serving the actual story in the most beautiful way

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2019)

So it is a musical, and not a "straight biopic". Given that this is a story about Elton John, it probably works better that way.
The film has plenty of interpersonal drama without a music score. But the musical fantasy scenes, all rearrangements of Elton John songs performed by the cast, are the heart and soul of the story. They reminded me of Moulin Rouge and also of Jesus Christ Superstar, with clever edits to flip between different timelines. The trip down memory lane along to "The Bitch Is Back" used colour filters to distinguish between the 1950s and the time Elton John spent in rehab. The young Reggie Dwight's fantasy of conducting an orchestra in the dark with a torchlight that he uses for secretly studying music in his bedroom is another inspired choice. Not only do these scenes fit the artist's exuberance, but they also offer possible insights in the creative processes behind the songs.
Apart from this, the focus of the film is clearly on the themes of friendship, lack of self-love and redemption. The timeline including flashbacks suggests it is a well-rounded story rather than a step-by-step biopic for people to pick factual holes in. The contrast between Elton John's relationships with John Reid (sex without love) and Bernie Taupin (love but not in a sexual way) may seem a bit binary in that context, but the characters of Reid and Taupin do come across as very realistic.
Elton John's parents in the film seemed very one-sided, and especially the mother just sat there looking expectantly in another direction, like she was in a film of her own. For me, though, this was more than compensated by scenes with Elton and Bernie Taupin, as well as so many others.