Disclosure time.
I am card carrying Elton fan.
Loved him & his music for years.
And I’ve always admired the way he got his life back on track, and has used his fame and fortune to help AIDS research.
Plus he’s adopted 2 children.
Plus he loves football.
What’s not to like & admire?
And this smashing biopic about him is – well, I just said it, right? The film is smashing.
Huge fun.
“Rocketman” is staged as a musical, a perfect vehicle to depict the life and excesses and flamboyance of this amazingly talented man. I secretly love musicals (actually, why secretly?) so the singing and dancing were right up my alley.
The film starts with Elton checking himself into rehab, and goes back and forth between his childhood and the present.
From a troubled childhood, we see how his early success quickly snowballs into fame and fortune, and a dangerously out-of-control life
Matthew Illesley, the child who plays little Reggie (as he then was) is beyond adorable, and his final scene moved me to tears (I won’t plot spoil).
Taron Egerton as Elton John is phenomenal.
This is a breathtaking performance, as he sings his way through the film, and he is a dead ringer for a younger Elton.
Take my advice and stay for all the credits at the end of the movie, as we did, right to the very last one. They show photos of the real people in the film alongside their film version – the resemblances are absolutely amazing.
Casting director, take a bow.
The film is fun, it pulls no punches about Elton’s troubled early career years, when drugs and alcohol nearly wrecked him.
I saw the film today, Sunday 2 June.
It opened in India on Friday 31 May and is UNCENSORED.
We get the statutory warnings about narcotics and tobacco being bad, in the corner of the screen, but the gay sex scenes are uncensored, which for India is a big deal.
Well done to the film censor board. I am truly impressed.
Go see “Rocketman” for the music.
Go for the ever-more crazy outfits.
Go to have fun.
And, of course, to sing along to such iconic music, sotto voce!
If you still aren’t convinced, here’s the trailer!