‘Elton John’ doc is absorbing tale of darkness, light
At every step of his colorful life, Elton John has defied the standard of rock-star regality. For one thing he was gay, not to mention, doughy, balding and frequently bedecked in sequins, feather boas and “electric boots.” Yet, after an uneventful start, the musician formerly known as Reginald Dwight would spend the first half of the 1970s dominating the charts as the immediate heir to the throne just ceded by The Beatles.
As the new Lennon and McCartney, John and his prolific lyricist, Bernie Taupin, amassed an expansive catalog of timeless hits that produced seven No. 1 albums in just five years. Is it any wonder Elton eventually crashed and burned, a broken man nursing a broken heart, as outlined in the new Disney+ bio-doc “Elton John: Never Too Late”?
Traversing much the same ground as 2020’s Oscar-winning “Rocketman,” this non-fictional version offers little insight or surprise, but it does feature the man himself, front and center, pontificating on a meteoric career achieved at a steep cost. He’s hardly the first superstar to deal with the irony of feeling hopelessly lonely despite being universally adored. To hear him tell it, he was a victim of his own overambition. Success was never enough, particularly without someone to share it with.
It’s an oft-repeated theme of “Never Too Late,” an emotionally stirring reprise set to the steady beat of indifference (his parents), betrayal (his former lover and manager John Reid) and drug and alcohol addiction. How he endured it lends much credence to the words of “I’m Still Standing,” Taupin’s ode to his longtime friend and songwriting partner.
Theirs is very much a tale of fate, commencing on the day Elton walked into the offices of Liberty Records to answer an advertisement in the New Music Express beckoning aspiring songwriters. During his interview, he was handed a sealed envelope containing scads of handwritten lyrics. Their author, Bernie Taupin. Elton brought them home, sat at his piano and staked a claim to what would become a gold mine.
It’s disappointing that we don’t hear from Taupin nor any of the surviving members of the famed Elton John Band – Nigel Olsson, Dee Murray, Ray Cooper and Davey Johnstone – but the film isn’t meant to spotlight anyone but the headliner. After all, it was co-directed – along with R.J. Cutler (“Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”) – by Elton’s longtime husband, David Furnish. So, the one-man band approach is unsurprising, albeit significantly narrowing in scope.
As a framing device, Furnish and Cutler bookend Elton’s first (1975) and last (2022) concerts at Dodger Stadium, a venue near and dear to the rock star. But it’s also not without reminders of what Elton calls his darkest period when he attempted suicide on the eve of his first concert in Chavez Ravine. Obliterated by barbituates, alcohol and self-pity, Elton slung his anesthetized body into a swimming pool, hoping to drown. Obviously, it didn’t work. Nor did it stop the show from going on. Still …
No one says it, but the 2022 visit to L.A., the final stop on his Goodbye Yellow Brick Road world tour, is his way of atoning for, even mocking, the nadir of his life. What better way to call it quits? It’s the ultimate destination the movie seeks, as it counts down the 10 months leading up to Elton’s final U.S. concert. As we watch him perform in a variety of cities, including New Orleans, London and New York, we’re also invited backstage to hear more about his well-chronicled history.
He reveals a few secrets, but when you’re as big a star as Elton John, you’re already considered an open book. That familiarity slows the film’s tempo somewhat, but at the same time, you’re enlivened by the array of archival photos and footage of a young Elton forging his way to the top. And then there are the dozens of accompanying John-Taupin songs that were the soundtrack for my high school and college life.
In the early 1970s, there was no match for his charisma as a singer and performer. Heck, even John Lennon, from whom Elton pinched his last name, was enamored enough to invite the Rocketman to collaborate on “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night.” It’s fascinating to hear Elton recall how much Lennon doubted the song’s legs, even going so far as to accept a wager from Elton that if it hit No. 1, the ex-Beatle would join his new pal onstage to sing it at Madison Square Garden.
It’s impossible to describe the chill you get watching clips of that night of Thanksgiving 1974 when Lennon walked out to a long, raucous ovation, his first proper appearance at a concert since the famed Beatles farewell at Candlestick Park in 1966. And to hear the luminaries duetting on “Night” is not just awe-inspiring, it also creates a discernible bridge between the British sensations of the 1960s and the pop king of the 1970s.
This leads me to my main nit to pick with “Never Too Late.” And that would be its failure to contextualize Elton John’s impact on his contemporaries and the hundreds of disciples arriving in his wake. As close as it comes is summoning Elton superfan Brandi Carlile to join her idol in singing the movie’s title song over the closing credits. But as I said, the film is centered on just one person, with a particular focus on Elton’s most prolific period between 1970 and 1975, when he released an astounding 13 albums, none of them – with the possible exception of “Caribou” – less than a four- or five-star achievement.
It not only made him a legend, it provided the clout he needed to champion LGBTQ+ rights upon coming out to a Rolling Stone reporter in 1976. He admits this momentarily stalled his momentum on the charts, but looking back, he says it was all worthwhile. Without his influence and advocacy, would gay marriage have prevailed?
It’s fitting that the film ends with a shot of Elton, his husband, David, and their two young sons, Zachary and Elijah, taking a bow before a wildly cheering audience. It was a long time coming, but it’s heartening to see Elton John finally attain what had always cruelly eluded him – joy and contentment.
Movie review
Elton John: Never Too Late
Rated: PG-13
Directors: R.J. Cutler and David Furnish
Runtime: 103 minutes
Where: In theaters Nov. 15 (limited) and on Disney+ beginning Dec. 13
Grade: B
