When it comes to a Biography or Auto-Biography movie, this is more like it! Right away the tagline says, “The only way to tell his story is to live his Fantasy.” Even if it weren’t Elton John, this should’ve been the approach for Queen and all the other upcoming Arena Rock acts we’ll probably be bombarded with in the next decade. It’s a movie, so mix the imagery, story and music altogether into what MTV used to be…entertainment! If you want the truth, read the book. Hollywood will always play fast and loose with what happened because everyone’s lives have long patches of boring crap, plus some iconic things were mundane decisions. Pink Floyd’s album cover for Dark Side of the Moon was something the quartet picked out in a ten-minute meeting with the designer; they were more focused on making the music.
To get started, I will make one matter clear, as much as I enjoyed Rocketman, I will never be more than a lukewarm fan of Elton John/Bernie Taupin at best. I can’t think of a good song the duo made when the Eighties happened. Their material became Adult Contemporary schmaltz and the ultra-cheesey hit they made for The Lion King sealed it for me. I have overcome what would be hatred for them since enough years have passed with their remake of “Candle in the Wind” to canonize Princess Diana into some kind of secular saint…I refuse to bow to nor recognize any royalty, including the wannabes in America.
On to the movie!
Rocketman is told from Elton’s perspective while he’s in rehab. Exhausted, strung out on coke and booze, he checks himself in and confesses everything to his fellow patients: his emotionally unsupportive parents, his first gigs, his struggle with being gay, meeting Bernie and the early years, so on. Since he’s really shy, liquid courage fixes that; people expect a Rock n’ Roll showman. When success happens (relatively) quickly, cocaine and additional substances get added to maintain the outrageousness, primarily through his famous wardrobe. Throw in a unfaithful boyfriend/personal manager to widen the hole money, platinum records and fame can’t fill. It’s not a new story, especially with show business. Rocketman just does it better by sprinkling in the catalog of hits to assist the storytelling. For example, he wanders around a party at Mama Cass’ singing “Tiny Dancer” to illustrate his loneliness amongst a crowd, a montage of shopping/fancy dining to “Honky Cat,” or Bernie singing “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” as he walks away from Elton, citing exhaustion and his need for a break.
Again, the songs are not used in chronological order which is fine. They’re used to amplify the emotional resonance of what’s happening. The events in his life are likely jumbled up, truncated, people are composites, etc. I would have to ask my friend Mark M to clarify for he read Elton’s book Me and is an expert on the singer/songwriter. Rocketman succeeds in doing what it set it to do originally…entertain and give the masses the equivalent of his life story through a musical version of Wikipedia. Elton wisely knew that diehards or the truly inquisitive will read his book. I’m also assuming Me covers his not very productive Eighties period and the comeback in the Nineties thanks to Disney.
I highly recommend Rocketman for any reason. Mine would be how it’s up there with another personal favorite Rock n’ Roll movie Elton appeared in 45 years ago, Tommy. We need more original MTV hybrid flicks telling the journeys of our favorites. Imagine how cool Duran Duran or Roxy Music would be. Hell, maybe I could sit through U2 without puking profusely.
