How to take the
career of one of pop’s most flamboyant performers and bottle it in a format
that will fit in a two hour movie is no small feat. Well, Dexter Fletcher’s done it. His dazzling, exciting take on the
legend that is Elton John is such a good film that it left me with the idea of
seeing it again. And that doesn’t happen often. Eschewing a year by year career
trajectory (there are great leaps, ardent fans might find them too great) or
even musical continuity (the story stops in 1983 but there are songs from
beyond then) Fletcher and writer Lee Hall instead make magic. They use the
basic facts, the essence of the story and fashion what early promotion called “a
true fantasy”. Course, if you don’t actually like Elton’s music this is perhaps
not the film for you but you still might be surprised. For those of us who do
those songs are deployed with precision – and often in surprising ways- to support
the narrative. It definitely takes more chances than Bohemian Rhapsody -with which it is inveitably going to be compared- and they pay off in a big way.
