A warts-and-all biopic.

Rating: 8/10 (29 May 2019)

Unlike "Bohemian Rhapsody", which director Dexter Fletcher is said to have a hand in after Bryan Singer 'left' the project, "Rocketman" is less of a straightforward rock star biopic and more of a jukebox musical that uses the songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin to tell the story of one, Reg Dwight, who remodeled himself, as in any good adult fairytale, from a shy schoolboy into a glam-rock icon called Elton John. It's also, presumably, more truthful since it was made with Elton's blessing and gives us a warts-and-all portrait that lets us see the monster he was, or at least believed he was, before turning into the sweet-natured, sober and charitable saint he is now and whatever you think of his music I suppose credit must be given for such an unflattering picture of a living artist.
That leaves the question, is it any good? Well, actually yes. There are missteps to be sure; not all the production numbers come off and there's a little bit too much misery before he seeks rehab. It's told in flashback, ending when he reinvents himself as the Elton we know now and before meeting his husband, David Furnish but it's a well-told tale, (Lee Hall wrote the fine screenplay), and it does have an outstanding performance from Taron Egerton as the Rocketman of the title. If Rami Malek can pick up an Oscar for putting in a pair of false teeth and camping it up as Freddie Mercury then Egerton, who does his own singing, should at least get nominated for what is a much better performance. There's good work, too, from Jamie Bell as Taupin and nice cameos from Stephen Graham and Gemma Jones, (the granny).
The villain of the piece is nasty Richard Madden as John Reid who gets Elton coked up and into bed and then treats him like dirt and unfortunately Madden can't give his character any shadings, if indeed he had any, Their sex scenes might put off a few Aunt Ednas and rednecks but then it's unlikely they would be going to see an Elton John biopic in the first place. Everyone else should have a ball.