How Wrong I Was.

Rating: 10/10 (8 June 2019)

I am of that certain age wherein Freddie Mercury and Elton John defined my early life. (Back when people still spun vinyl and listened to music on AM radio.)
I didn't think "Bohemian Rhapsody" could be topped, but it now has been.
While it would be easy to say that "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rocketman" are just biopic films about two different 1970s-1980s British music greats, it's not that simple.
The films are quite different. "Rocketman" is much more like "a musical," with big casts performing in numbers. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was (IMO) more of an alternation as between drama - concert - drama - concert.
IMO, "Rocketman" really takes you inside the mind, heart and soul of a man who is so enormously gifted, but hurting the hearts of those around him. Terribly sad that Sir Elton HAD TO BE the one person who understood his talent and worth. (And I think he does, now.) But he didn't really grasp how important he was at the peak of his career.
I don't think this a "spoiler"? I believe "the core" of the film is about his collaboration and deep friendship with lyricist Bernie Taupin. They were the brothers they never had, and did not always, in the moment, understand that.