Rocketman (2019)

Rocketman (2019)

• When it comes to musical biopics, I still think that ‘Love & Mercy’ is the best (and probably always will be). Even though this particular film doesn’t reach the heights that ‘Love & Mercy’ does, it certainly does the best job (other than the previously mentioned film) at showing the psyche of the depicted artist. I was not at all expecting that kind of dive into the mental state of Elton John. When it comes to recent musical biopics, a lot of them feel like greatest hits reels or family friendly versions of the artist. However, this one flips the script and actually tells a story without shying away from the sensitive bits. The story is shown from the POV of Elton at an AA meeting, which to me, is such a smart way of doing it. Rather than just starting from the beginning and working to the end, it goes back and forth from the past to Elton’s “present”. The other great way that the story is told is the music. Obviously, you’re gonna have a killer soundtrack full of hits, but this one uses the songs almost in a musical theater way, which elevates the film higher than other musical biopics. For example, on one end, you have ‘Michael’, which just shows concert performances and studio sessions. On this end, the entire cast gets involved and the songs are performed orchestrally and cinematically. Each character partakes in the storytelling and singing, which was genius to me. The performances were all pretty terrific, most especially from Taron Egerton and Kit Connor. The fact that neither one of them were nominated for an Oscar is criminal. Also shoutout to Jamie Bell because I just love him so much. The visuals were nice, the costume design is iconic, and the music is obviously a highlight. Now, it’s not a masterful film, but it’s pretty great, and one of the better musical biopics out there. I would recommend it to all drama/musical fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!