Rocketman (Dexter Fletcher, 2019) Raron Egerton, Jamie Bell, Richard Madden
Blurb: musical fantasy about the uncensored human story of Elton John's breakthrough years.
This is not to my taste. Egerton was cast because he looks like Reggie Dwyer (unfortunately for him). 'Uncensored' in the blurb means that Sir Elton is shown to have taken excessively almost every drug in MIMS — not, thank goodness, (shown) having sex.
I didn't know this was a musical unless it got to the first dance scene. Pleasant surprise: it wasn't going to be too gritty or grotty. ... However, it is, by my old-fashioned standards of what I dislike watching.
Irrelevant trivia: I always feel for individual members of the troupes of dancers. They have to work so hard for so long, and then they're hard to spot in the second-back row for the few seconds that they're on the screen. ... But it's not as bad as being a stuntperson, risking your life being set on fire for some since-forgotten film.
Rebecca Harrison:
Dexter Fletcher’s take on the rock ’n’ roll history of Reginald Dwight is kinetic, poignant and, above all, refreshingly open and celebratory about its gay protagonist’s sex life. ... If you come to Rocketman expecting a generic Sunday-afternoon matinee you’ll be sorely disappointed – this is unrelentingly dazzling mashup of musical and bio-pic drama. So expect the unexpected – and give this feelgood gay-positive film the love that it demands. Rebecca Harrison, Sight&Sound.
Garry Gillard | reviews | New: 25 September, 2019 | Now: 11 March, 2021