The Elton John movie Rocketman manages to avoid many of the classic biopic pitfalls
by specifically setting out to be an "epic musical fantasy," meaning it's happy to take
some liberties with the singer's real story.
Still, even this playful portrayal misses the mark on a few key aspects of Elton's life.
Rocketman portrays Elton John's early manager Dick James in a less than flattering light.
The movie's James is a stereotypical Cockney thug with a nasty, rude facade that only serves
to hide even more crudeness underneath.
Although he ultimately offers a glimpse of a golden heart when it becomes evident that
Elton and Bernie Taupin have some legitimately great tunes in their back pocket, he still
spends the majority of his screen time insulting every other character in the room.
The real Dick James, on the other hand, was pretty much everything his Rocketman counterpart
is not.
According to Billboard, the real James was a disarmingly humble and honest man who constantly
praised his associates.
What's more, the people who knew the man said the secret of his success was his utmost integrity
and solid principles, not to mention his considerable personal charm.
His movie counterpart displays basically none of those things, and the movie even downplays
his famous ear for a hit song.
When Elton tries to play some of his future classics to him, the movie version of James
scoffs at each and every one of them.
It's kind of a shame such a seemingly decent man was presented in such an unflattering
light.
Elton John and Bernie Taupin never fight.
In fact, Elton considers the fact that they've never had an argument an important and wondrous
part of the pair's relationship, and the movie doubles down on this message by straight up
stating it twice.
Which is somewhat ironic, because the Rocketman versions of Elton and Taupin spend several
scenes arguing, whining and lashing out at each other.
"Sorry."
"I know."
Though the movie goes to great lengths in portraying the duo's relationship as a friendly,
brotherly one that's filled with love and respect despite life's ups and downs, it's
simply not true to say they never fight.
Later in the movie, the two have a tense discussion about Elton's downward spiral of a personal
life at a restaurant table, at which point Taupin walks out of Elton's life, almost for
good.
And that's about as heated and serious as an argument can get.
Since it's essentially a musical, Rocketman plays understandably fast and loose with the
timeline of its songs.
Instead of placing the chronologically apt Elton John song at the right moment in the
singer's story, the film opts for the dramatic route and cherry picks the hits it feels it
needs to drive the plot forward.
Arguably the most glaring example is the early performance of 1973's "Saturday Night's Alright
for Fighting", which covers the span between Elton's childhood and early adulthood.
The song ends with him rocking the house while fronting his 1960s band, Bluesology.
This makes it seem like Elton was the frontman for Bluesology, and it would be extremely
easy for a casual viewer to assume that "Saturday Night" was a Bluesology song.
It wasn't.
Another example is Elton's "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" duet with Kiki Dee, a song which
is actually from 1976.
However, the movie places it pretty specifically during the early stages of Elton's relationship
with John Reid, which would place it around 1970 to 1971.
Finally, during the movie's climax, Rocketman heavily insinuates that 1983's anthemic "I'm
Still Standing" was the first song Elton wrote after getting sober in the early 1990s.
Many Elton John aficionados most likely found themselves taken aback during the scene in
which Ray Williams asks Elton what his name is.
At this point of Rocketman, the boy named Reggie Dwight only has the first half of his
new name down, because his former bandmate Elton Dean had objected to Elton's attempt
to steal his entire name.
Elton quickly solves the problem when he spots a picture of the Beatles hanging on the wall,
which of course implies that the "John" comes from John Lennon.
And while this might suggest that Elton blew a perfect opportunity to call himself Elton
Ringo, it's also patently untrue.
The movie identifies the inspiration for "Elton" correctly, but the name "John" actually came
from Long John Baldry, a popular British rhythm and blues musician.
Bluesology spent some time as a backing band for Baldry, who became something of a mentor
figure to his young organist.
Unfortunately, Rocketman chooses to pretend Baldry doesn't exist in more ways than one.
Baldry actually once helped young Elton by encouraging him to get out of a hopeless early
relationship with a female housemate.
The movie also depicts these events, but removes Baldry from the equation, giving his role
to Bernie Taupin instead.
Rocketman quite correctly depicts Bernie Taupin as having been a constant presence in Elton
John's life, but when it comes to the actual timeline around their first meeting, the waters
get a little muddier.
Early in the movie, Elton hangs out at a bar with the American musicians his band Bluesology
is backing, and his writing partner and flatmate Taupin is there having some beers with the
crew.
When Elton receives some tough-love advice from the Americans, who out him as gay in
the process, Taupin proves to be a loyal companion by being thoroughly unfazed and accepting.
It's a nice scene.
Unfortunately, it doesn't quite fit the real-world timeline.
Bluesology's stint as a backup band for some American R&B stars took place in 1965, and
Elton didn't even meet Taupin until two years later, by which point the band was backing
Long John Baldry full-time.
In all fairness, though, the American musicians may be intended as composite characters that
combine the many great artists Bluesology worked with over the years.
After all, that table would've had to be a good deal larger if they'd tried to fit Baldry,
the Isley Brothers, Patti LaBelle and the Blue Bells, and Lee Dorsey around it.
At the very beginning of the movie, Elton storms into rehab wearing an elaborate, winged
devil costume.
The rest of the story is told through flashbacks that he experiences during his counseling,
and as the plot progresses he gradually sheds the outfit in favor of more subdued, standard
clothing.
As a neat twist, the costume is ultimately revealed to be his stage outfit for a major
concert at Madison Square Garden.
Having finally decided that enough is enough, the weary Elton had stormed out of the building,
leaving his menagerie of handlers behind and making a beeline for a cleaner life.
Unfortunately, this is little more than a useful narrative device.
In reality, Elton's rehab trip was inspired by his friendship with Ryan White, a hemophiliac
teenager who had contracted HIV via a blood transfusion.
White's sickness and untimely death made Elton realize what a mess his life had become, and
the artist says knowing White and his family was a deciding factor in him making the resolution
to get sober.
"And I just knew at that point that my life was out of whack, I knew beforehand but that
was the point I really realized it, and a month after that I got sober and clean."
The movie doesn't even get Elton's costume right.
Funnily enough, the superstar did enter rehab wearing an outlandish costume…but it was
a decidedly less metaphorical chicken-themed outfit instead.
Rocketman presents Elton John's record company contact and personal manager Ray Williams
as a wet-behind-the-ears kid whose defining characteristics are being a nice guy and loving
to drink.
When John Reid takes over, Williams sadly exits stage left and fades into obscurity.
But the real Williams was an entirely different beast.
For one, he had already worked for a popular music TV show and as a press agent for high-profile
artists like Sonny & Cher and the Kinks, so rather than being the snot-nosed kid depicted
in the movie, he was actually an industry veteran.
While the movie Williams is a relatively young kid who meets young Elton at a large office
that actually belonged to his boss, the real man was the head of artists and repertoire
for Liberty Records when Elton came knocking.
When John Reid takes over Elton's managerial duties, the ex-manager finishes his role in
the film looking like the physical equivalent of the "sad trombone" sound.
(sad trombone sound)
The real Williams, on the other hand, went on to achieve further success as a musical
supervisor for the film industry and the owner of Crumbs Music Media.
Bohemian Rhapsody might have portrayed John Reid as a lovely band manager who is coldly
manipulated and betrayed by the villainous Paul Prenter, but Reid gets the Prenter treatment
for Elton John's movie.
Rocketman reimagines Reid as a suave, calculating monster who Richard Madden plays as an emotionless
business beast.
The Rocketman Reid manipulates Elton John into a relationship and becomes his personal
manager, then coldly abuses, ignores, and even physically assaults the artist.
When Elton attempts to break his hold, Reid coldly taunts him with ironclad contracts
and absolute contempt.
"You've signed contracts with me years ago so, I’ll still be collecting my 20% long
after you've killed yourself."
It's true that the two were argumentative, and Reid has been known to punch a journalist
or two in his day.
However, the real Reid was a small, neat man rather than a physically imposing force of
evil.
Although he was definitely the businessman of the duo, his relationship with Elton John
was not exactly that of a struggling, abused artist and a villainous, calculating manager.
Even after their five-year love affair, they had a near-symbiotic relationship for close
to three decades, and they were even said to resemble a married couple.
While they did eventually part ways on bad terms, it was for economic reasons.
Elton had started to suspect Reid was abusing his funds, and finally took his longtime manager
to court.
Rocketman portrays Elton John's mother, Sheila Farebrother, as a complex person who straddles
the line between her motherly responsibilities and her own instincts and impulses.
Because of her nasty comments about Elton's sexuality, fame, and many personal issues,
their relationship is cordial at best, and strained to the breaking point at worst.
Despite this, however, they eventually reconcile when Elton gets sober and apologizes for his
behavior, in a rehab-based fantasy sequence, at least.
Those who have paid attention to showbiz gossip within the last decade may be aware that Elton
has indeed had his fair share of issues with his mother.
But these issues appear to be have taken place far more recently than the era depicted in
the movie.
The two started feuding in 2008, in the aftermath of Elton's reshuffling of his organization
and his cutting ties with several old employees, including manager John Reid and personal assistant
Bob Halley.
Farebrother took offense when Elton asked her to sever her ties with the men as well.
The petty argument escalated into an eight-year-long catastrophe, and the two didn't reconcile
until 2017, which was the same year Farebrother died.
One of Rocketman's most powerful moments is a scene based on Elton John's real-life 1975
suicide attempt.
The movie's version has the drunk and evidently depressed Elton downing a handful of pills,
stumbling onto the diving board of his mansion's pool, and declaring his intention to take
his own life.
Cue a fantastical performance of the movie's namesake tune, complete with a choreographed
ambulance trip and a recreation of Elton's iconic 1975 Dodger Stadium performance.
Elaborate underwater visions and hospital-themed dance sequences aside, this is actually a
slightly less strange reading of the real story.
The real Elton theatrically announced to his friends and family that he had taken 85 Valium
pills and would be dead within the hour.
He then jumped into the water and struggled to come to the surface.
The aftermath of this attempt was an unceremonious stomach pumping, and to show just how sick
of his antics some of his loved ones were, his grandmother simply lamented:
"I suppose we've all got to go home now."
Even Elton himself has admitted that this was the perfect line for the occasion.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).