By Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer
Whatever you say about Dexter Fletcher's glossy, glittering Elton John blinged-out biopic "Rocketman ," a shiny sequin of a movie, it doesn't lack for sparkle. Like its flamboyant subject, it's a movie outfitted to the nines in dazzle and verve, even if it's gotten all dressed up with nowhere to go but the most conventional places.
Almost slavishly sealed within the hermetic bubble of the rock biopic, "Rocketman" will, justifiably, draw plenty of comparisons to its opening act: last year's Freddie Mercury tale "Bohemian Rhapsody." They're both about larger-than-life figures, each gay icons, with a preternatural talent for hooks and spectacle. Fletcher also helped steer "Bohemian Rhapsody," subbing for the departed Bryan Singer. The two movies even share a villain in music manager John Reid (Aiden Gillen in "Bohemian," Richard Madden here).
And Elton, like Freddie, churned out unassailable, everlasting earworms sung round the world. Favoring melody over meaning, the music of both comes big-screen ready. Their songs were themselves movies, in Technicolor. Just as "Bohemian Rhapsody" can glide over the origins of "Scaramouche," we need no investigations into why that dancer was so tiny.
"Rocketman" deviates in its rating (R), its less hesitant depiction of its star's homosexuality and, most dramatically, in casting John's life across a fantastical musical tapestry. It's also quite definitely a better movie — although one still stuffed to gills with clichรฉs and heavily dependent on the sheer toe-tap-ability of its star's extensive back catalog, and its lead performer.
Here, that's Taron Egerton, who doesn't especially look like John or sound like John, but he gives a star-making performance built on charisma and will. Egerton gives it his all, and if there's one quality that's most essential in an Elton John movie, it's probably spiritedness.
On the whole, this is a more-or-less true, authorized account (John is an executive producer), but one that frequently breaks free of stubborn things like chronology and gravity. In one scene, John himself rockets from an arena stage into the night sky and explodes as a firework. The rock critic Robert Christgau once referred to John as "a one-man Zeitgeist." ''Rocketman" has every fiber of its being committed to burnishing the myth of Sir Elton: literally an exploding star.
"Where there was darkness, there is now you, Elton John," the devilish Reid tells him, shortly before John becomes an $87 million-a-year industry.
Working from a script by Lee Hall, Fletcher zooms through John's life, finding trap doors in his past that fall into lavish song-and-dance routines. There's some "Rocket Man" on a toy piano as a toddler and a "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" at a carnival, for a reason that eluded me. The next song is rarely more than a few minutes away. Frequently, "Rocketman" feels like an ad for a jukebox Broadway musical. This is a movie yearning for the stage.
The film works in flashbacks, jumping off from an addiction group meeting. "My name is Elton Hercules John," he introduces himself before giving a laundry list of addictions: alcohol, cocaine, shopping. The story shifts back, naturally, to John's childhood (Elton was then Reginald Dwight), where his withholding parents, and one of the snottier fathers you've seen, unwittingly mold their son into a desperate performer and a bit of a clothes horse.
The expected moments of breakthrough and excess follow in John's meteoric rise. The main thread throughout, at least theoretically, is his undying friendship with lyricist Bernie Taupin, a relationship that outlasts all others. There's not as much of Jamie Bell's Bernie as there should be, but if anyone takes up the slack, it's Madden, who sexily menaces the screen in every scene he's in.
All of John's stage theatrics and feathered costumes, "Rocketman" suggests, are a way for John to hide from himself, from "Reginald Dwight." But any demons that John might be haunted by are given only lip service. Maybe Elton couldn't cope with reality, but "Rocketman" certainly can't. Instead, Fletcher's movie is primarily one of metamorphosis, almost mythically drawn. Performing "Crocodile Rock" at Los Angeles' Troubadour, his feet — and the audiences' — achieve liftoff. "Rocketman" is happiest with its feet far off the ground in some dreamy, hollow, happy pop splendor.
"Rocketman," a Paramount Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for language throughout, some drug use and sexual content. Running time: 121 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Oscar and Emmy-Winning Composer Kris Bowers Joins Barking Owl For Advertising, Branded Content
Music, audio post and sonic branding house Barking Owl has taken on exclusive representation of Oscar and Emmy-winning composer Kris Bowers for advertising and branded content.
Bowersโ recent film scores include The Wild Robot and Bob Marley: One Love, alongside acclaimed past works such as The Color Purple (2023), King Richard and Green Book. His contributions to television are equally impressive, with scores for hit series like Bridgerton, When They See Us, Dear White People, and his Daytime Emmy Award-winning score for The Snowy Day.
In addition to his work as a composer, Bowers is a visionary director. He recently took home the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject for his directorial work on The Last Repair Shop. The emotionally touching short film spotlights four of the people responsible for repairing the musical instruments used by students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The Last Repair Shop reflects the positive influence that musical instruments have on the youngsters who play them, and the adults in the LAUSD free repair service who keep them working and in tune.
Barking Owl CEO Kirkland Alexander Lynch said of Bowers, โHis artistry, diversity of style and depth of storytelling bring an unparalleled edge to the work we create for global brands. His presence on our roster reflects our continued commitment to pushing the boundaries of sound and music in advertising.โ
Johanna Cranitch, creative director, Barking Owl, added, โKris first caught my attention when he released his record โHeroes + Misfitsโ where he fused together his jazz sensibility with a deeply ingrained aptitude for melody, so beautifully.... Read More