Rocketman

Dir: Dexter Fletcher

2019

****

I enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody, a film that was essentially saved thanks to Dexter Fletcher coming on board to finish off directional duties after original director Bryan Singer was sacked. Fletcher was actually the first choice director for that film and after the completion of the movie it was clear they should have gone with him from the beginning. He was therefore the perfect choice for an Elton John biopic. However, apart from the shot-for-shot scenes featuring Live Aid, Bohemian Rhapsody was pretty fictional for a supposed biopic. Rocketman is much the same. I suppose it was inevitable, given that the film’s subject, Sir Elton John, is still alive and acted as producer. It would be naive to believe that you’d be seeing a 100% authentic adaptation of the great singer’s life when approaching this film, but putting aside the fact that one man’s life and career cannot be squeezed into 90 minutes, this is far more of a fantasy film than anything. I love a good fantasy film – and this is a good fantasy film – but when I watch a biopic I do want to learn certain facts about the subject, perhaps something I hadn’t known before. The cynic in me can’t help but think the film has been made to kick-start a stage show, just as Bohemian Rhapsody was made after We Will Rock You ended its run in the West End. It’s all part of Elton John’s retirement plan for sure, and I really don’t care if some facts are missing and some truths are fabricated, but I do have issue with biopic that are less than 50% accurate. Before I decided to write this review I had to ask myself whether the wonderful fantasy element of the film outweighed the blatant historical inaccuracies, and after a bit of thought I’ve decided that it does. I think. It is one of the few occasions where I’m not sure I really care, the film is outrageous, entertaining and heaps of fun, so in that respect it feels totally authentic. So Young Reginald didn’t really have an Elvis haircut, The Beach Boys weren’t at his first show at the Troubadour and none of the songs he plays within the film were actually written at the time point in which they are sung. In many respects this story is told by Elton John while he’s in rehab, so a lot of his memories would be foggy. That said, I think it is a little strange that they’d change the first song he and Bernie Taupin wrote together from Scarecrow to Border Song. One would think fans would like to know that piece of trivia. Also, while it's true that Elton John adopted his first name from a Bluesology bandmate, saxophonist Elton Dean, he didn't think about changing his last name while glancing at a photo of John Lennon in Dick James’ office. Elton was inspired by his early mentor, Long John Baldry, who hired Bluesology as his backup band in 1966. Elton John admired Baldry as one of the few people in the music scene who were both openly gay and highly esteemed. This feels like a bit of a damning omission in many respects, why not give your mentor his credit and why believe that a mainstream audience might not get it? Elton John never dated a landlady named Arabella either. He dated a secretary named Linda Hannon (née Woodrow) for two years, and was engaged to her in 1969. John ended up sinking into a suicidal depression due to stress faced with the prospect of living a domestic life in the suburbs, and attempted to kill himself in his kitchen by sticking his head in a gas oven (failing to do so by leaving the kitchen windows open, and being found by Bernie). Less than a month before the wedding, John suddenly broke off their engagement, advised by Long John Baldry. Bernie and Elton ended up writing the song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" based on the failed engagement and Baldry's advice. Neither Linda nor Baldry are mentioned. Like I said, none of this makes the film less entertaining but actually, the more you learn, the more you might not like. Only Elton and his father know what their relationship was like, although his brother Geoff Dwight has disputed the characterization of their father but according to Elton John himself, his mother, Sheila Eileen Dwight, never reproached him or made clear any disappointed feelings, always showing support in his personal and professional lives. So why would he allow the film to show her in a bad light? I think one of the biggest issues with the film is the depiction of Dick James. Caleb Quaye, who was a member of Elton's former band Bluesology, he described James as "a gentleman,” and criticised him being shown in the film as a boorish, foul-mouthed cockney. “He wasn’t cockney. He was an old-school music man and was smartly dressed, you never heard a cuss word out of him. He was like a father, he gave us an opportunity to learn our craft. I don’t understand the fantasy of depicting him like that because he was nothing like it." Dick’s son, Stephen James (who helped discover Elton and encouraged Dick to sign him up to his music label DJM Records), also criticised the film’s portrayal of his father, calling John "basically a coward" and claiming that he wanted to destroy "everybody who was helpful or good" during the early days of his career, adding, "I don't understand why he seems to feel the need to try to destroy everybody who helped him. We only ever tried to do the best for him and to promote his career. I really am very upset that he has turned on people in this way. They basically depict my father in the film completely opposite to the way he was in real life." It does make you wonder. "I'm Still Standing" was not written while Elton John was in rehab, nor was the music video filmed after he left. The song was recorded in 1982, and the song and the video were released a year later. He went to rehab in 1990. Who am I kidding, the film did bother me. I like the exuberance but it felt a little too self indulgent. I’m happy for Elton to declare how great he is, he is, but don’t do it at the expense of others and don’t forget to credit those that helped you. Elton John and husband David Furnish had been trying to produce a film based on his life for almost two decades. The earliest efforts dated back to the 2000s, when development started at Walt Disney Pictures. Photographer David LaChapelle was set to direct the film after his work on the video for John's 2001 single, “This Train Don't Stop There Anymore", which featured Justin Timberlake as a young John. However, the project languished for nearly two decades. Elton John said that he struggled to get the film off the ground due to studios wanting it to be toned down to a PG-13 rating instead of an R. In January 2012, John announced that he had named Timberlake as his top choice to play him in the film. Lee Hall was set to pen the screenplay. In March 2013, Michael Gracey was hired to direct, with Tom Hardy cast in October to play John and Focus Features acquiring the U.S. distribution rights. Filming was initially planned to start in autumn 2014. However, creative differences between John and Focus, along with budget issues, led him and Furnish to take the project elsewhere. In July 2017, it was announced that Hardy was no longer involved, and Taron Egerton entered negotiations to replace him. While editing Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Matthew Vaughn learned about the project and took interest in producing the film on the condition that Egerton played John. Vaughn then picked Dexter Fletcher, who had replaced Bryan Singer during the production of the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, to direct the film since Gracey was busy with The Greatest Showman. In all honesty, it is Dexter Fletcher and Taron Egerton who make the film so enjoyable. The vanity project aspect annoys me a little but I did enjoy it, I just wish there was perhaps more truth. If it came with a accompanying documentary I’d be happier but if I was going to make a film about my life I would probably make it 95% fantasy too. The music, costumes and set pieces are, as one would expect, spectacular.