My earliest memories of Elton John are from the era of "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" and "I'm Still Standing", that is, the MTV-ready, suburbia-approved, flamboyance-lite version of Elton. To this day, Elton prancing on the beach in Cannes in the video for "I'm Still Standing" is my default likeness of him, and the juxtaposition between that Elton and the mythical chameleon-like creature who became a megastar in the 70's has informed my opinion of him ever since. Incidentally, the same is true for David Bowie, who made a similar about face around the same time.
It thus turns out that my memories begin where "Rocketman" ends, with Taron Egerton digitally inserted into the "I'm Still Standing" video in place of Elton. It's the exact point when every VH1 "Behind The Music" episode ends, with the return to prominence to conclude the artist's redemption arc. I can understand why they chose this plot structure for the movie, because who doesn't root for a happy ending?
As a piece of art, however, there's very little substance here. Most of the characters are caricatures of record producers, managers, even Elton's wife Renate comes across like a naive simpleton during the few minutes she's on screen. The plot proceeds in bullet point form, providing only the barest of relevant details designed to set up the intro to the next song. Dialogue and the relationships between characters are minor interludes while we wait for the music to start up again. Perhaps, with the success of totally vacuous movie musicals like "Mamma Mia", that's what people really want.
The interactions between Egerton and Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin are the exceptions, the rare moments when two real human beings were navigating through a set of complex emotions on screen. There's a scene when somebody praises Elton by effusing about how much the songs speak to them, essentially saying "I feel like I really know you". Elton more than anyone knew that he was the vessel for Taupin's words. For a person who spent most of his life to that point searching for his identity, dressing up daily in a land of make believe love and celebrity that revolved around him, that was a bitter pill to swallow.
The best scene in the movie, and the only one truly approaching high art, is the "Rocket Man" episode, where Elton tries to drown himself in his LA pool. He's snatched from the pool bottom, loaded into an ambulance, and in one fell swoop (accompanied by dancing paramedics) thrust onto the stage in Dodger stadium wearing a sequin covered baseball uniform. Those five minutes perfectly encapsulated the illogical excesses of the time.
A better movie about Elton would have focused on a single year of his life in the mid-70's, a blow by blow examination of the madness that could have taken its cues from "Almost Famous" rather than "Behind the Music".
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