Taron Egertoncan sing. We know this from the animated film Sing, which is aptly titled to make this point. But fans learned quickly just how talented he is when he took on one of his biggest roles yet: Elton John. The 2019 film Rocketmanseemed like a typical biopic, detailing John’s life through his music and career. But the Dexter Fletcherfilm elevated the idea of what a musical biopic could be and is easily one of the best movies of the last decade. And now fans can watch it streaming on Paramount+ this coming November!
Egerton shares the role of Elton John with two other actors. Kit Connor plays John when he is a young boy who finds his own love of music, but we also had Matthew Illesley playing the youngest version of “Reginald Kenneth Dwight,” John’s birth name. As you get to see him discover who he is (the Elton John of it all), we also get to experience just how rough John’s childhood was. And how it played into his issues with drugs and alcohol that were famously detailed during his rise to fame.
Rocketman also stars Richard Maddenas John Reid, John’s former manager and lover. But the relationship that is the most important throughout the film (and within John’s real life) is his friendship and collaboration with lyricist Bernie Taupin, played beautifully by Jamie Bellin the film. At the core of Rocketman is a story about self-discovery and the friendship between these two men that helped to bring us so many beautiful songs.
One of the Most Unique Entries in the Biopic Conversation
Often with biopics, the genre makes it so they’re either boring or very “by the book.” But what Lee Hall does with the script for this film is put it all through Elton’s perspective. We start the film with him going to rehab, getting clean, and telling his story in group of how he got to be where he was at that moment. So everything we’re learning is subjective from the start. That, mixed with fantastical elements that you’d believe John capable of if you’re a fan of his work, everything about Rocketman is both devastating and whimsical in a captivating way. Which is why it is one of the best biopics to ever do it.
You can sit back and sing along to Rocketman when it begins streaming on Paramount+ on November 26.
- Release Date
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May 31, 2019
- Runtime
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121 Minutes
- Writers
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Lee Hall
