Underwhelmed

Rating: 4/10 (11 August 2019)

My wife and I saw this at the drive-in this weekend as a second feature after "Hobbs and Shaw". After intermission, there were fewer than ten cars left, but I can write that off mostly to the bone-headed move on the theater owner's part to put these two movies together, which are nothing alike and have two completely different target markets.
Anyway, what was good: the acting, performance, and costumes. No complaints there. What was less than stellar: the musical numbers. They were all tightly abbreviated; when you just start to get into a groove or a song, it stops, which made it noticeably different from any other musical I've seen. What was bad: the entire premise. I went into this movie doubtful about what kind of drama could be written about Elton John that would make for a riveting story, and I was right. It seemed the whole thing was about how his parents sucked and he needed therapy for it. I'm not questioning anyone's personal struggle with such issues at all; that said, I had rotten parents too and it simply wouldn't make for a compelling story or movie, especially if that were the lion's share of any hardship I faced in life. They could have at least touched on his befriending Ryan White or his relationship with Princess Diana, but didn't.