Great movie but...

Rating: 10/10 (9 June 2019)

Overall it was a very fine movie, much of which was revitalizing a small portion of the brilliant music of this genius and his glory days, while being the biggest star in the world.
But like all movies, at the sake of limiting its length many things were missing. The absence of Long John Baldry, who Elton really got the John from, was noticeable; as was the story of him befriending Ryan White. For anyone who doesn't know that segment of the EJ life, a young straight boy got AIDS in the early 1980s when nobody really knew what it was. Fear was everywhere. Ryan was shunned at school and everywhere he went as people feared his very presence would give them AIDS. As he began dying of the disease, his mother approached Elton John, Ryan's favorite singer. EJ came to his bedside, visited the dying boy, befriended the family, and even sang at Ryan's funeral. The event changed his life and pushed him into rehab. Not sure why that was left off, but I could see it adding to the story.
Don't get me wrong, the story of Elton being a character in his own song "Candle in the Wind" was not lost in this movie. He was nearly pushed to death by his own fame as was Marilyn Monroe in the song. Elton lived his life like a candle in the wind as well, until he got sober and grounded. The movie perfectly portrays that and the acting was great. The story line was more realistic than Bohemian Rhapsody in that there were very few flaws shown about Freddie Mercury, yet Elton seems more human in Rocketman instead of just a musical prodigy turned rock icon.
It is a musical however, and scenes suddenly burst into song. Because they are Elton songs, they are not sung as well by the actors but they somehow fit the movie just fine the way they are. Great movie.