At the beginning of Rocketman we see Elton John march into a group therapy session, dressed as a fallen angel in a scarlet red be-winged outfit, and declare that he is an alcoholic, a cocaine addict, sex addict, bulimic - and a shopping addict. The rest of this ‘true fantasy’ tells how little Reggie Dwight from Pinner got into this sorry state, and ends, as it starts, with him deciding to battle his way out of it. It is a terrible story, wonderfully told, and its postscript tells us that in the end Elton won. He has of course just been awarded the French Legion d’Honneur to go with his English Knighthood.
The story is well known, from his childhood, when it seems his parents tried hard to live up to Philip Larkin’s famous nostrum -
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
We follow him through his acceptance at the age of 11 by the Royal College of Music, meeting Bernie Taupin when he was twenty and breaking into song-writing with him. That was followed by the fame and fortune that almost appeared like magic, but were not what he really needed. It tells of Elton’s unhappy relationship with John Reid, his one-time lover/manager, his spiral down into various addictions and his attempted suicide, all the way to his decision to quit drugs and go into therapy. The actual chronology is used freely, and in the case of the group therapy invented, but this rearrangement imposes some clarity onto what was really a very chaotic life.
Most of the songs do not follow the actual chronology of Elton's life and career, and of course none of them are to his own lyrics, even when they seem to be his personal commentary/confession, but Bernie's lyrics must have been informed by his friend’s circumstances, and they are used here to fit the ‘true fantasy’ well.
Elton was a producer of this movie so I guess he must have put a lot of his money into it and thereby kept it out of the hands of the major studios. Paying the piper meant he could have ‘called the tune’ and given him license to whitewash the story (as in the Queen produced Bohemian Rhapsody). But Elton once said about being in therapy that "your pride will kill you" and I think this must be the most blisteringly honest bio-pic I have ever seen produced by its protagonist. The budget also gave artistic freedom and it is, as they say, all up there on the screen. Much of this story is illuminated by song and dance routines, which are large scale and impressive.
Dexter Fletcher, who ended up directing Bohemian Rhapsody when Brian Singer was sacked, also directed this, delivering Lee Hall’s script (War Horse, Billy Elliot) and George Richmond’s images (he shot both the Kingsman movies, Tomb Raider and Warhorse) with a sure touch. Matthew Margeson honours the original music and provides his own unobtrusively, and Taron Edgerton produces an award deserving performance as he sings, dances and plays the adult Elton (Matthew Illesley was nine years old when he played him in childhood). Jamie Bell plays Taupin, and the guy from Bodyguard, Richard Madden plays Reid (who is painted very black and I suppose it must be true or he would have sued the hell out of them).
It is good to see so many great British actors on show, including Gemma Craven, Stephen Graeme and Stephen Macintosh, alongside the amazing Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton's mother, who I spent much of the move trying to identify as a Brit, never recognising her American self from Jurassic World – Fallen Kingdom.
The postscript tells us the good news. Elton did find someone to love. Elton and David Furnish married in 2005 and have two adopted children. Elton has been sober and clean for decades now, and his AIDs Foundation has raised hundreds of millions of pounds. He does, however confess to still having a problem with shopping. I guess he can afford it.
So, although having doubts about the depiction of the therapy group, which might give some people a false impression of how they actually work, I think Rocketmanis a really good movie, telling an important story that has a clear message for all those who aspire for fame and fortune - and about the absolute need for forgiveness. None of it would work, however, without the brilliance of the music, and I was very pleased to see it made clear that it is Taupin who has always written the brilliant and essential lyrics for Elton to put to music, and that Bernie retained his sanity while Elton was going crazy. Their friendship is also a true love story, if never a romanic one..
I saw Rocketman on a very big screen with a good sound system and if you can get to a proper cinema screen it is really worth the effort, this is a Big Movie, with Big Music - and a Big Story to tell.
