Rocketman soars with song and soul
Summer's over, the kids are back in school and the best movies of the year are about to start heading to theaters, but there's a summer film I have high expectations for when it comes to nominations. Full disclosure, I’m a big fan of Elton John. So, as you might imagine, I was excited to see his larger-than-life career played out on the big scree in Rocketman.
"So how does a fat boy from nowhere get to be a song man?" That's a question asked early in the film and the answer is not an easy one. Rocketman takes us on a musical journey as we watch the former Reginald Dwight transform from a child-prodigy with a doting grandmother (Gemma Jones), self-indulgent mother (Bryce Dallas Howard) and cold-fish father (Steven Mackintosh) to one of the biggest names in the music business.
These relationships will form him, but it's the meeting of a certain "Mr. Right," that really gets Reg's career off the ground - his meeting with songwriter Bernie Taupin, played by Jamie Bell and the forming of their life-long friendship.
Elton John served as the executive producer on this film that’s part bio-pic, part musical fantasy. He, along with director Dexter Fletcher, chose actor Taron Edgerton to step into the singer’s flamboyant shoes as he tries to discover who he is. Edgerton who looks a lot like the singer even without the crazy glasses and false teeth, bravely sings and dances and leads us on an emotional roller coaster ride as he shows Elton John struggling to come to grips with his sexuality, dealing with his immense fame and the people who used him, and how he turned to booze and drugs to mask his pain. The singer was extremely open about all of this and didn’t require any sugar-coating. As such, the film allows us to look beyond the feathers and sequins for a glimpse of the real man.
Instead of placing songs in chronological order, they’re used as biographical markers in the singer’s life journey. Some fans have found this a little disconcerting as they try to remember their lives and the years when these songs first became hits, but letting go and letting the story tell itself will make the roller-coaster ride a lot smoother.
"So how does a fat boy from nowhere get to be a song man?" That's a question asked early in the film and the answer is not an easy one. Rocketman takes us on a musical journey as we watch the former Reginald Dwight transform from a child-prodigy with a doting grandmother (Gemma Jones), self-indulgent mother (Bryce Dallas Howard) and cold-fish father (Steven Mackintosh) to one of the biggest names in the music business.
These relationships will form him, but it's the meeting of a certain "Mr. Right," that really gets Reg's career off the ground - his meeting with songwriter Bernie Taupin, played by Jamie Bell and the forming of their life-long friendship.
Elton John served as the executive producer on this film that’s part bio-pic, part musical fantasy. He, along with director Dexter Fletcher, chose actor Taron Edgerton to step into the singer’s flamboyant shoes as he tries to discover who he is. Edgerton who looks a lot like the singer even without the crazy glasses and false teeth, bravely sings and dances and leads us on an emotional roller coaster ride as he shows Elton John struggling to come to grips with his sexuality, dealing with his immense fame and the people who used him, and how he turned to booze and drugs to mask his pain. The singer was extremely open about all of this and didn’t require any sugar-coating. As such, the film allows us to look beyond the feathers and sequins for a glimpse of the real man.
Instead of placing songs in chronological order, they’re used as biographical markers in the singer’s life journey. Some fans have found this a little disconcerting as they try to remember their lives and the years when these songs first became hits, but letting go and letting the story tell itself will make the roller-coaster ride a lot smoother.