Overstuffed effort … but worthwhile viewing
There are any number of Elton John lyrics that would fit nicely here, to start this review of Rocketman. You’re thinking of them now. You know you are. There are so many. How do you choose? You’re also picturing the former Reginald Dwight, festooned in iridescence and bedecked in enough feathers to set off hundreds of allergic reactions, enough sequins to blind at 100 yards. And now that you’re thinking about Elton, you’re tripping back over the bio and musical highlights: Big ’70s rock star, years of excess, late ’80s resurgence, recent marriage and fatherhood, late-career comparisons to Tom Jones or maybe Van Morrison.
Great, you think, but how, you ask, does all that get stuffed into a two-hour long mainstream movie? Great question!
