Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

RocketMan 

This film is phenomenal! This is a emotional roller coaster showing the true highs of Elton John but also showing the very deep lows of his career as well. Taron Egerton gives a outstanding performance that is one of the best performances of the year he deserves all the awards he’ll be getting for this film. Rocketman goes the distance and doesn’t hide anything or sideline any topic everything is shown in its brutal honesty onscreen. Dexter Fletcher captures the story of Elton in a way that is unlike any bio pic I’ve seen before Rocketman soars through the sky and succeeds on every level. 

First Off, Taron gives a truly astonishing performance that will have you amazed by his dazzling portrayal of the music icon. He shows a honesty and emotional rawness that truly shows not just the glitz and glamour showman side to the performer but also the emotional and sadness that went on in his life and he shows it onscreen  it in such a respectful and incredible through the film. Taron gives a career best performance that shows his full acting range at full throttle in this film. The supporting cast also give amazing supporting performances from Jamie Bell, Bryce Dallas Howard to Richard Madden. The standout being Richard Madden who brings the role of Elton’s Music manager John Reid to a Brutal honesty portrayal of the man who really put Elton through years of emotional  and mental pain and Richard brings the emotional weight needed to convey such layered sides of who John Reid was to Elton. The entire cast like I mentioned all deliver top notch performances theirs not one weak performance the acting in this film is terrific. 

Secondly, The tones that were shown through the film was amazingly well done. This film is not your average Bio Pic where it’s now become very predictable of how Rock or bio pics of musicians are shown. It usually shows the beginning then the highs and then the lows with the sex drugs and fights within and then the happy conclusion and that’s usually a blue print used in a lot of bio pics and it’s not that I think that approach to it is horrible but if you don’t get inventive the genre will become not as Satisfying cause then you know how it’ll conclude. Only a handful of Bio Pics have stood out that really were done in great ways those being Ray, Walk The Line and Bohemian Rhapsody. But what this film does that no other bio pic has is that usually when you do a music bio pic you use the music through the film as a jukebox of greatest hits for people to tap their foot to while the story progresses along. Here they use they do it the other way around they use the music to move the narrative forward which was very refreshing to see. Some people have expressed that they don’t like that approach but you know what it’s something different and I love it as it feels at times like a musical and a bio pic and it doesn’t outweigh the story of Elton being told with the music they are able to channel the music in a way that carries the story forward or use it to help convey a specific emotion through the scene and it’s so brilliantly shown and captured through the film. 

Lastly, RocketMan is a bio pic that is so honest in its telling of the rock legend and it shows the sheer ugliness and darkness in Elton’s life but with that darkness we also see the light too and the film embraces and shows the good and ugly and it’s been a while since we’ve seen a film be so open and honest with its telling not just in a music bio pic but in a bio pic in general. It’s amazingly well acted with a Oscar caliber performance at the centre by Taron and magnificent direction by Dexter while also having great music to tap to RocketMan is one of the years best and one of the best bio pics ever made. 

This film tells the story of music icon Elton John from his beginnings as a child to the glamour of the music scene showing the highest of highs and lowest of lows 

Rated R : for language throughout, some drug use and sexual content

Taron Egerton : Taron delivers a transformative performance that will amaze you. Taron has slowly been getting more work which makes me so happy as he’s such a great actor. He was introduced to many with Kingsmen and then we heard his voice that amazed me in the animated film Sing and here he gives a performance that truly will astonish people. Taron brings a very real and honest portrayal of the rockstar he didn’t imitate Elton he fully immersed himself into the role from his psychical appearance to the way he spoke he really got into the headspace and took the role head on. When you watch the film it is very trip at times as it does look like Elton onscreen and when an actor can adapt themselves to look so much like the character that you forget their even onscreen that is when you know their doing something truly special. He was able to show such layered emotion throughout the film as you see so many stages he goes through emotionally and Taron was amazing at showing that so strongly onscreen as when he has his trumpiths you see the sheer joy and happiness and then when he is sad he was able to show such heartbreaking sadness through his delivery but also at times he could convey such strong emotional moments without a word and it be as impactful then if he said something. Then when he gets angry you can hear the sheer anger in his voice and intensity in his eyes and Taron really shows genuinely authentic emotion through the film and it really is one of the strong suits of his performance is his ability to show such range of emotions and make it just pop off screen with his amazing exaction of it he does it in a way that doesn’t feel over the top but just enough needed for each scene. His voice also is amazing to have to act dance and sing through this film is no easy feat on top of the fact he is playing one of the most iconic singers of all time. Taron had a lot to deliver and he past evrey expectation as his voice when he sang was beautiful it isn’t Elton amazing but he had to capture how Elton would sound and Egerton does that in spades as you hear the sheer passion in his voice when singing every lyric. He goes places emotionally we haven’t seen Taron bring to screen before and wow is it amazing he goes to some very dark and heartbreaking places emotionally and when he does you can see such vulnerability and rawness that is so  powerfully acted and shown by Taron he truly transforms into Elton John truly becoming him from head to toe showing the highs and lows of him in such a authentic and honest way. He gives a career best performance and I hope come award season that he gets recognized for his work in this film as it truly is a special performance that Taron shows in this film what a brilliant captivating performance. 

Richard Madden : Richard gives a sinister performance as the music manager John Reid. Richard has been getting great success on the small screen from the mini- series The Bodyguard and now has made a big splash on the movie scene with his great work in this film. Here he plays. John Reid the music manager to Elton and also his lover for a period in his life as well. Richard brings this charming look to John Reid when we are first introduced to him and then further into the film he sheds his real skin and we see what he really is and Richard steps up to the task on being able to switch such different sides to him within an instant. As by the end of the film you can’t stand John Reid as he was terrible to Elton and Richard cranks that up to 1000 in his performance and shows the emotional and mental abuse that was hurled at Elton by John Reid for a long time. Richard doesn’t play him as a villain but as a Human being that abused his powers as a manager to his advantage to get what he wanted from Elton and made him suffer leaving Elton deep emotional scars. Richard could be smiling and very nice in one moment then slapping Elton in the face the next and his ability to be able to switch within seconds of his emotional range was so impressive as he was so believable onscreen. When he spoke it had impact and weight to it and Richard really delivered a truly magnificent supporting turn in this film as you can see him take on the role completely as he fully immerses himself in his role’s he plays and he does it here and wow it is amazing as Richard spews the meanest things to Elton and he knows he is hurting Elton and he enjoys it which is sick and Richard shows John Reid for who he was and really portrays him in the light that he truly is and I hope his performance doesn’t go unnoticed as he gives a fantastic supporting turn in this film that is amazing. 

Bryce Dallas Howard : Dallas Howard gives her best performance of her career! Bryce has always been an actor that is very much a character actor that pops up in a ton of films and she’s a great actress but their hasn’t been a film up to now that really stood out acting wise for her. Here she gives a outstanding performance as the mother from hell as Elton John’s mother. She plays Elton’s mother with this very proper clean cut attitude she carries herself as and she acts as she’s upper class when she really isn’t. She plays the part she wish she could be is the best way to summarize Elton’s Mother from how the film depicts it. Bryce can deliver such mean things in a way that she it feels like Elton’s mother doesn’t even recognize what she is saying is so damaging to her son emotionally and mentally and Bryce plays that so well in the film as she brings the charisma and energy needed for the role and she isn’t in the film that much but when she Is she crackles with great energy. She transforms into the role as their were times I forgot it was Bryce as she adapted her voice and everything about herself for the role and this performance is unlike anything we have seen her do before onscreen as she goes places emotionally she hasn’t before. her emotional range in the film was amazing as she goes through such layers of emotions and Bryce made it look so genuinely and authentic when conveyed onscreen. She really brought this person to life from the page with her amazing commitment to the performance at hand. I hope her work in the film also doesn’t  go unnoticed as she gives a splendid supporting turn in this film. 

Dexter Fletcher : Dexter you did a freaking amazing job! From the co director of Bohemian Rhapsody! Dexter saved the best stuff for his film and he dazzles and amazes the audience  with what he packed into this film. Dexter brought a different approach to this bio pic by having a musical element to the source material which was greatly done and never felt overused it was just the right amount as it helped also bring the music into the scenes in such creative ways that haven’t been done before. I also give him massive respect for going for the hard R rating and really pushing it to make sure he showed Elton’s story as accurate as possible no matter how dark it got he shows every aspect of Elton’s story. He was able to have the film at a perfect runtime as it never felt overlong or to short it moved along at a great pace with some montages that was greatly well placed through the film. He really brought a energy to this bio pic that was a breath of fresh air as their hasn’t been a bio pic like this before. As he shows very veery ugly sides to the Rockstar’s life as when he hits rock bottom he shows it no matter how disturbing or heartbreaking he doesn’t sugar coat or gloss over anything he tells it for how it is and how it went down. Because most bio pic’s show the person in a positive way and they never really show the ugly side to the person but here he shows that completely as with every low their is a high and he balances both tones so very well while also getting amazing performances from his entire cast and a Oscar level performance from his lead actor. Dexter really escalated how bio pics can be told as he injected the genre with much needed energy as he brings the music into the film by essentially doing musical numbers which I loved as the music moved the narrative forward and also helped express the scene when the dialogue couldn’t and that was a great benefit for the film. Dexter knocked it out of the park with his work on this film he told the story of Elton as accurate and respectful as possible Dexter you did a freaking amazing job you beautiful genius.