Rocketman (2019)

Biopics are always as much fiction as any other movie. So I often appreciate it when a biopic embraces that, self consciously owns its perspective, and finds a way to tell someone’s story with an authenticity without trying to purport itself to be a “true story.” Rocketman, Fletcher’s highly innovative and entertaining telling of Elton John’s early life and rise to fame, embraces this, and tells a truly charming and insightful story.

Made as a traditional musical (characters breaking into song to advance their motivations and story) but shot in less than traditional ways, Rocketman is as vibrant and eclectic as its subject, and as entertaining. The film tells us from the beginning it is not just going to be your average biopic. We need as an audience to suspend our disbelief and just run with the experience and if we do we’ll get so much more out of it.

Fletcher’s cast truly steps up. I have seen some potential in Taron Egerton but have never felt he had a role to truly show us what he can do. Rocketman is a breakout for him. This role gives him an opportunity to shine. It requires a certain amount of mimicry but also a high level of layered character building. And he manages it all in a way that feels effortless. Another example is Bryce Dallas Howard, an actor who doesn't normally impress me, but here she plays the complicated difficulty of John’s mother and makes it feel real. One of the moments that bright a tear to my eye was her subtle cruelty. She could have been just a caricature of a bad mother but Howard brings more to her than that and its these touches that make Rocketman so strong.

There is a tendency in queer stories to tell tragedies. There is a wealth of tragic stories in the queer oeuvre, both in fiction and in “true stories” like the recent Bohemian Rhapsody film. One of the ways Rocketman is so successful is in telling a gay man’s story that gets a happy ending, a story of success. It is important to see those stories too and for many LGBTQ2S+ folks those stories are out of reach. Rocketman is a refreshing and important for that.

Rocketman is one of those films that just all comes together, tells an accessible story that can be felt by anyone, but also tells in its specificity a certain story that often doesn't get told. All wrapped in up the magical and wonderful musical world of Taupin/John. What more could we ask for?

Rocketman
Starring: Taron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard, Gemma Jones, Tate Donovan
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Writer: Lee Hall