An amazing performance, but a predictable story

Rating: 5/10 (5 October 2019)

As many have noted, Taron Egerton's portrayal of Elton John was amazing, and the music was well done. But the movie follows a very predictable path that we've seen many times before (recently in Bohemian Rhapsody, and even to an extent in the many iterations of A Star is Born).
You know the pattern - struggling musician rises from low-income background, becomes massive global superstar, battles with substance abuse and alcoholism, pushes away those that were close to him, then resolves everything by the third act. While in some cases the protagonist dies (Rhapsody), in this film everyone lives "happily ever after" - that's to be expected since Elton was the executive producer.
My impression was that the movie tried to be too comprehensive. It could have focused more on his early days and the build up to his first taste of success, giving us more detail about his "broken family". Why did his first father leave? Why did his mother say she was protecting Reg/Elton from him? What were the mother's issues with her family? These things seemed to greatly impact Reg/Elton, but we don't have a clue as to why?
Anyone that has been aware of Elton John probably knows his back story - fake marriage to hide his sexuality, addictions, etc. This movie didn't offer much more than we already knew.
In the end, the acting and musical performances were very well done, but the story was so familiar as to make the movie almost instantly forgettable.