Rocketman [Blu-ray Steelbook + DVD + Digital]

I love rocketman. It made me cry. It's a really informative movie in to his life.

Awesome show and wonderful music!

THE REVIEW:Little Reginald Dwight pressed a piano key down. Then another. And another.It wasn’t much. But it was enough. His mother and grandmother watched the boy play along with the radio—finger by finger, note by note. From ear. Without a lick of instruction.For one rare moment, Reg felt like he was heard. Seen. His Mom, Sheila, rarely tore her eyes away from her own mirror to look at him. His father, Stanley, was rarely home. And when he was, the cold, hard man took no interest in him at all.But Dad did love music. He had a room filled with jazz records—records Reg wasn’t allowed to touch. The boy was allowed to come in and listen sometimes if he was absolutely quiet. Maybe if he could play music, he’d find value in his father’s eyes.Maybe he’d find value in his own.In a few years, Reginald Dwight would change his name to Elton John. He’d team with lyricist Bernie Taupin and, together, they’d lay seige to the music world: 30 albums, more than 50 Top 10 hits, more than 300 million records sold. Acres of sequins. Vats of alcohol. Tables laden with cocaine. And the singer would, by his own admission, eventually have sex with nearly everything that moved. Marriage. Divorce. Sobriety. Knighthood.But once upon a time, he was just little Reg—a boy pressing notes on black-and-white keys. He’d taken his first step on his yellow brick road, and all the wonders and terrors of his own personal Oz awaited him.POSITIVE ELEMENTS:Rocketman chronicles the formative years, the greatest successes and the most colossal stumbles of Elton John, one of the world’s most famous, most talented and most successful musicians. But the movie also suggests that at his innermost core, Elton’s always been on the lookout for both love and meaning—often trying to find them in the very worst places.As Elton’s odyssey unspools, we can’t help but feel for the guy, especially as a young child when he’s desperately looking to his parents for love and approval. It reminds us that good parenting is critical to every child’s well-being. And when that’s missing, something else—something intrinsic to a child’s soul—goes missing, too. Only his grandmother shows the future Elton John unconditional love and support, and the movie suggests that she, not his mother, was the real rock in the family.Elton looks to fix that broken thing inside him in a bevy of terrible, self-destructive ways, as we’ll see. He has just one real anchor in his life: Bernie Taupin, his lyricist. They hit it off from the very beginning of their partnership (singing “Streets of Laredo” together at a café), forming a friendship so strong that Bernie calls Elton his “brother.” Though Bernie disappears from Elton’s life during some critical junctures, he always returns—supporting his friend during even Elton’s darkest days.And let’s also give Elton a round of applause, too, for getting help for his plethora of addictions and compulsions. It’s never easy for someone to admit weakness and seek help, especially when you’re someone as famous as Elton John.IN CONCLUSION:When we first see Elton John, it’s in a rehab treatment facility. “My name is Elton Hercules John,” he recites. “And I’m an alcoholic. And a cocaine addict. And a sex addict. And a bulimic. And …” The list goes on.So he was. So we see onscreen, often in lurid detail.Rocketman is many things: a celebration of Elton John’s incredible catalog of music, an examination of his success, a surreal festival of song and dance, a cautionary tale about excess.But its essence goes back to little Reginald Dwight sitting at the piano: How that little boy lost himself and, in so doing, lost his way. And how—at least on the movie’s terms—that little boy found himself again.Great Movie...

I was in middle school when Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player was released, and Elton's music was pretty much part of my teen years. Since I'd read the film's reviews, I had an idea that this was a bit of a fantasy, and due to the fact that it wasn't Elton's recordings on the soundtrack, I didn't bother seeing it in the cinema. Like everyone else dealing with lockdown, I'm watching a lot of streaming product, and I decided to chance this, thinking I could just stop watching if I hated it as much as I presumed I would. I was pleasantly surprised. I've seen a handful of jukebox musicals on stage, and know better than to expect a carbon copy star - Taron Egerton acquitted himself nicely playing the most recognizable musician of my lifetime. He was certainly able to communicate the emotions, joys, and pains of what has been a singular life. Jamie Bell did a great job as Bernie Taupin, although, as Elton's long-time lyricist, he probably had far fewer expectations regarding his portrayal on his shoulders. The film was a hybrid of an old school Hollywood musical with various characters breaking into song to express their emotions, as well as the standard performance biopic stage scenes. I really loved the segment surrounding Elton's legendary breakout performance at the Troub, and wasn't really too troubled about songs not falling into chronological order. Julian Day did a fabulous job recreating some of Elton's most iconic costumes at different points in his career, including some originally designed by the legendary Bob Mackie, who designed Eltons spangled Dodger uniform for his 1975 Dodger Stadium concert that was the hottest ticket in town for the students at my h.s. I kind of wished they'd taken a shot at his earlier Hollywood Bowl gig, which was even more insanely elaborate, but they only had so much time to fill with an entire lifetime of highs and lows. I think West End musical actress Celine Schoenmaker was terribly underutilized as Elton's wife Renata, but I'm glad she got to sing a little. The brief look at Elton's duet with Kiki Dee, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, was one of the few glimpses of some of his collaborations in the day. I'm still processing how I want to really think about this film - as someone who loved old school 1930s-50's MGM musicals, I did love some of the production numbers, especially Saturday Night. They were honest about his relationship with John Reid - not terribly explicit love scenes, which I appreciate whether you're talking about straight love scenes or what's seen here. I've always loved Elton's music, so this has made me appreciate him a little bit more, and made me realize how important it is for performers to have people around them who are supportive without being enabling of bad behavior. I'm glad they finished with the real I'm Still Standing Video, because that was a fun one and a statement of a new beginning for him. Just may have to watch it again. I can see where it won't be everyone's cup of tea - in truth, I'd usually rather see old concert footage than see someone miming and trying to pretend to be a musician I loved in my youth. Maybe having the lead actors do their own singing was a genius move to take it out of the pretend zone and align it more closely with a Broadway jukebox musical. I'm almost expecting this to eventually become a Broadway show, albeit without the swimming pool or levitation devices. Not a bad way to spend a few hours in quarantine.