Sunday, June 2, 2019
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| The colorful rise of Sir Elton John |
A review
Kurt von Behrmann
Brief Synopsis: A biopic about singer songwriter Sir Elton
John’s rise to International Stardom .
Director: Dexter Fletcher Writer: Lee Hall
(screenplay) Stars: Taron Egerton,
Jamie Bell,
Richard Madden
Biopics
of contemporary musicians follow a specific story arc. Born into humble beginnings and raised by
dysfunctional families they struggle, work hard and then achieve overwhelming fame. As soon as the success arrives, excess, alienation
and addiction follow. The journey ends with a triumphant redemptive return
to the spotlight.
The template
for these films is a cinematic treatment of an episode of “Behind The Music.” In an attempt to freshen up the formula, Rocketman
begins with a resplendent Sir Elton John decked in orange feathers and devil
horns walking down a long corridor. His
walk ends not with a stage, but with a support group. Although the framing device feels like exactly
what it is, a contrivance, at least the film makers are trying something to break
up the usual narrative.
Whatever
opinions, you may have about Rocketman, you cannot deny that Taron Egerton
gives a captivating performance as John from insecure struggling musician to a
lonely megastar. In a wise move, he does
his own singing. The result makes for
some of the film’s most successful moments; Egerton singing. He has avoided the pitfalls of portraying a
recognized person by not relying of over exaggeration. There are points where you become lost in the
illusion because the actor has created such a convincing facsimile.
Where
the film starts to show signs of stress are where we are given way too much time
with a young Elton and far too little time witnessing the changes success
brings. Unlike Bohemian Rhapsody, also
directed by Dexter Fletcher, where we actually see the musicians crafting their
songs in the studio, we have very little film time devoted to John’s creative
process, or inner workings.
The
effort spent on John’s childhood starts to feel as if he has an axe to grind,
rather than tell an effective story. Clearly
there are still some deep-seated resentments still here. The portrait he creates of his mother and father
are, to say the least, extremely unflattering. Grandmother does get a hall pass for being
supportive. She is the only person in this outfit capable of providing any love,
or even warmth.
His mother is painted as self-centered, cold and
slutty. His father is an arctic wasteland
of a man absent of discernable emotions.
No doubt there is pain here, but the point is made so often as to be redundant.
I am
more than willing to allow a film like this to play fast and furious with the
truth. This is a biopic, not a fact-based
documentary. I can accept songs being
played out of chronological order. What is harder to accept is that some of the
songs do not advance the story line as well as others in John’s dense catalogue.
The critically
acclaimed and commercially successful “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirty Cowboy”
is rich with songs that could easily propel this storyline. The entire album is autobiographical in nature. Why more songs of this type were not used is
puzzling.
John has
always had a strong ear for melody. But
some of these songs are misplaced given the context in which they are placed. It is almost as if there were a mandate to cram
as many hits as possible, even if it means shorting truly moving songs to just
a few bars. “Daniel” is unjustifiably given little screen time as if it were lesser
material.
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| Making an entrance as only Elton John can |
Another
odd creative choice is the levitation scene when John plays the legendary “Troubadour.” This
performance building moment. In this
scene John and his audience are levitated, literally lifted by the music into
the air. Rather than support the music, this
visual effect distracts from it.
Had they been true to the realty of his
performances, John played mainly slower tempo material. His sets were mainly ballads, a real strength
of his. Considering that this was at the
height of the singer songwriter period, think Neil Young, Carol King, James
Taylor, Joni Mitchell, CSN and sometimes Y,
I would have thought something moving might have been a better
choice.
Here again,
Bohemian Rhapsody let the music do the heavy lifting with the visuals in
support of the material. Just the opposite happens here where the music
is in a tug of war with the dance numbers and visuals.
At times,
Rocketman feels like a demo for a Broadway musical rather than a complete
film. The fantasy elements are such that
it almost feels too light in some areas and too heavy in others.
One
thing the P.R. for the film have made much ado over is the homosexuality
present. To be honest, you will see greater
and far more explicit gay content on H.B.O. than you will here. Rocketman does not gloss over the gay
content, but it is not presented in any overt way either. The same holds true
of the excesses like John’s eating
disorder, shopping addiction, sexual additions and substance abuse. It is there, but not considered in any great
detail.
If you
are expecting a film that showcases the nitty gritty of life on the road, the excesses
of stardom or the inner torments of a talented figure in music, you maybe
disappointed. This is not an examination
of a man’s life. It is a celebration of
one in song and dance.
If anything,
Rocketman is the musical version of Sir Elton John’s life presented with
vibrant colors, musical numbers and a considerable amount of showmanship and razzle
dazzle. The aim of this biopic is to see
the artist as a colorful treasure above and beyond the normal world. A Phoenix that can rise out of his own
ashes. As pure entertainment, this
biopic manages to hit the right notes most of the time.
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