Elton John's American concert debut, on Aug. 25, 1970, is one of the most memorable moments in "Rocketman," Dexter Fletcher's film about the iconic glitter-rocker. While pounding out his hit "Crocodile Rock" at the legendary Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles, Elton (Taron Egerton) and his audience literally float into the air, transported by the rhythmic energy and yearning chords. It's an inventive way to convey how it must have felt to witness the birth of a future star.
Just one problem: Elton didn't play that song.
Does it matter that he wouldn't even write "Crocodile Rock" until two years later? Not to Fletcher, and apparently not even to John, an executive producer. Unlike "Bohemian Rhapsody," last year's hit drama about Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (which Fletcher partly directed), "Rocketman" is not a traditional biopic. It's a freewheeling, fanciful jukebox musical that focuses on the troubled childhood, early struggles and nearly fatal level of stardom that defined John's life until he pulled off an astounding midlife comeback in the '80s (barely shown) and went sober in the 1990s. An uneven combination of strong performances, an insightful script (by Lee Hall) and iffy musical numbers, "Rocketman" is inventive and enjoyable, even when it teeters unsteadily on the platform heels of its own ambition.
