Rocketman

Well let me start out by saying that I thought before I even got to the theatre that I was not going to like this movie.  For some reason, I don’t care for the lead actor, Taron Egerton.  I don’t know why, I just don’t like him.  That being said, I did enjoy “Rocketman.”  First of all, how can you go wrong with a movie full of music written by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin?  Many of my favorites were here, including “Crocodile Rock,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Saturday Night’s Alright” and “Your Song.”  What I found compelling was the story of how shy, pudgy, Reginald Dwight evolved into the flamboyant and oh so talented Elton John.  There are some quite good performances in this movie, including an almost unrecognizeable Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s unhappy philandering mom.  Taron Egerton might not have had the shear brillance of Rami Malik as Freddie Mercury, but he did give a believable performance.  I also enjoyed Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin, the writing partner who enjoyed the trappings of being a rock star without actually having to get on a stage. I was fascinated with the creative process the duo used when they first started writing songs, after both answered ads for songwriters.  Bernie wrote lyrcs, mailed them to Elton, who would create the music without any direct contact and input from Bernie.  There is one thing I didn’t care for though, and that was the musical numbers.  I felt they were forced and didn’t really add to the plot. In fact, they were like an Academy Awards show production number and I found them distracting.  Elton and Bernie’s songs were the most enjoyable when they were being sung on stage, or when we saw the evolution of how the song was created.  All in all, this movie much better than I thought it would be and I think you would probably enjoy it.  Unless you hate Elton John songs.  Then I would stay home.