City of Men (2008)

When I first saw Rocketman upon its release on May 31, 2019, I instantly fell in love with it. I found it to be brilliantly conceived, and led by an extraordinary performance from Taron Egerton. I loved it so much that it ended up being my second favorite film of the year, behind Joker. It’s a truly astonishing film, and one that I am excited to revisit as it becomes available to stream today on Amazon Prime and Hulu.

What makes Rocketman so utterly unique is how it incorporates the music into the film. Instead of being a straightforward biopic, Rocketman becomes a musical fantasy. It strays from reality, allowing for elaborate dance numbers and for characters to burst out into song — all renditions of Elton John’s music. Director Dexter Fletcher finds the most creative ways to weave in between reality and fantasy. There is enough of a grounded story that we can follow Elton’s life and see how he evolves as a person. Fletcher knows exactly when to put that on the back burner in order to dive head-first into the fantasy.

The music would have no weight to it if it wasn’t for how layered and developed of a character Elton John is in this film. His ultimate struggle is to find love and happiness. As he is told many times by his own parents, no matter where he goes he cannot find it. This leads him down a dark, self-destructive path of drugs, alcohol, and several suicide attempts. The movie gives us a well-rounded look at who Elton John is as a person, and it holds nothing back.

Taron Egerton is absolutely magnificent in this film. I first came to know him from Kingsman: The Secret Service. He’s great in that movie, but I had no idea he was capable of a performance quite like this. He has deep emotional moments of pure dramatic acting, he has elaborate dance numbers, and he sings all of the songs in the movie himself. When it comes to movies about musicians, I always think the actors should perform the music themselves. It heightens the realism of the film for me.