Music and pain

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2019)

I love Elton John, his music has been a huge part of my life over my 40 years on this planet. So to see him get the biopic treatment is just crazy. I know the talk when it comes to these types of movies is on how close to life they are and how much stuff is left out. This was one of the issues that just drove me crazy with Bohemian Rhapsody. The time line was moved around so much that as a big Queen fan I noticed that years and events did not match up. Well I happy to say that this time around that didn't matter because while this is a biopic still, the take was on a more fantasy journey so the timeline didn't matter.
So I am not going to waste time telling you who Elton John is. If you don't know then you have some big damn issues in your life. But the movie traces his life from when he first started playing the piano to around the time in the mid-80's when he started to get cleaned. We get all the high's and low's, the nasty family backstory and heartbreaking lovers along the way. It doesn't always paint John in a perfect light and so you feel some of his pain along the way. But the story would be nothing if the music was not great, which it was. Taron Everton does a great job at painting the piano singer but so does everyone in the cast. I loved how so much of the music was mixed in and how it didn't hold it's self to that whole time line thing. A great example of that would be when we hear the song I Want Love sung when he was a kid, when of course that is a song from the 1990's. This was a flat out great musical that never loses focus on who the star is, Elton John. Another aspect that I am glad was in focus was his personal relationships. Yes we all know that John is gay, but we are reminded that everyone is hurt and fooled no matter what your sexual orientation is.
So should you see this? Yes, yes, yes. Right now. And love it because his story can be our story even if we never were rock stars or famous. We all have lived rich lives and have had pain along the way.