By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
Make no mistake: the jukebox musical/quasi-biopic “Rocketman” offers little insight into the cryptic character of flamboyant Elton John.
But as a campy musical — one that’s probably destined for Broadway — it’s ambitious — with 20 familiar songs, cleverly interwoven to cleverly depict significant sequences in the life of Reginald Kenneth Dwight, a pudgy musical protégé from suburban Middlesex, England.
Mixing fantasy with R-rated reality, it begins in 1990 in rehab, where Elton (Taron Egerton) is struggling to come to grips with his self-absorbed mother, militaristic father and love-deprived childhood, along with repressed sexual orientation at a time when “homosexual” was a still a whispered word.
“I’m an alcoholic, a cocaine addict, a sex addict, a bulimic and a shopaholic,” he confesses. And the rest of the film serves to illustrate all of that. Nothing is sanitized, but it is somewhat romanticized.
Working from an impressionistic, melodramatic script by Lee Hall (“Billy Elliot”), actor-turned-director Dexter Fletcher stages splashy musical numbers. That’s his strength; he took over directing “Bohemian Rhapsody” after Bryan Singer was fired.
Problem is: while Elton John wrote music, Bernie Taupin wrote lyrics. And Fletcher uses Taupin’s lyrics to illustrate Elton’s emotional journey/why could never really love himself. Confusing.
Taron means ‘thunder’ in Welsh, and Egerton delivers a convincing, powerhouse performance, singing every song. Coincidentally, when he auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London many years ago, he sang Elton John’s “Your Song.”
At his side as Bernie Taupin, Jamie Bell is intelligently intense and poignant as Elton’s “true brother”/collaborator. Completing the ensemble, Bryce Dallas Howard, Gemma Jones, Steven Mackintosh and Richard Madden are equally impressive, as is costume designer Julian Day.
Fact-checking: while he took ‘Elton’ from his Bluesology bandmate Elton Dean, he did not choose ‘John’ from John Lennon; instead it came from his mentor Long John Baldry. And he didn’t flee from a Madison Square Garden concert to go into rehab dressed as a horned demon.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Rocketman” is an extravagant, excessive 8. Sparkly fun.
After his acclaimed debut feature “The Lunchbox” (2013), writer/director Ritesh Batra crafts “Photograph,” a compelling tale of romance in Mumbai, where a photographer snaps a picture of a young woman and — to satisfy his doting grandmother — passes her off as his love interest.
Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is struggling to pay off an old family debt. To do this, he stands near the Gateway of India, taking photographs, which he sells to the constant steam of tourists.
One day, he spies pretty Miloni (Sanya Malhotra), who is studying to become an accountant. When she disappears into the crowd, he pockets her picture and doesn’t think more about it until his family and friends put more and more pressure on him to find a wife.
Impulsively, Rafi shows them Miloni’s photograph, not realizing that they’ll all want to meet her. His beloved dadi (Farrukh Jaffar) — aka paternal grandmother — who has threatened to stop taking her medication until he marries — immediately makes plans to make the long trip from their small village to the big city.
That means Rafi must not only find Miloni but, somehow, convince her to pretend that she is his fiancee. What makes his persistent quest fascinating is the way Ritesh Batra subtly delineates their backgrounds and cultural differences.
In color-conscious India, Rafi skin is darker than Miloni’s fair complexion. Even his dadi calls him a “black raisin,” noting he works in the sun all day. Miloni’s middle-class family is obviously of a higher caste than Rafi’s.
But there’s a mutual attraction and an abundance of kindness and compassion. “I didn’t see myself,” Miloni explains, looking at her image. “I saw someone happier and prettier.”
In Hindi and Gujarati with English subtitles, on the Granger Gauge “Photograph” is a slow-paced, sweetly discreet 7. Patience pays off.
Beginning where Lasse Halstrom’s “A Dog’s Purpose” (2017) left off, “A Dog’s Journey” is a syrupy sequel, following a Buddhist philosophy, imagining that a dying dog’s life-force reawakens in the body of another canine.
It begins on a peaceful Michigan farm belonging to Ethan (Dennis Quaid) and his wife Hannah (Marg Helenberger). Voiced by Josh Gad, Bailey is their Great Pyrenees Bernese Mountain Dog, gently bonding with their toddler granddaughter Clarity June — “C.J.”
Since their son was killed in a car accident one month before C.J. was born, their widowed daughter-in-law Gloria (Betty Gilpin) is drinking far too much wine. When familial tensions erupt, angry Gloria takes C.J. and moves to Chicago to pursue a singing career.
Before cancer claims aged Bailey, Ethan begs his loyal spirit to take care of C.J. So Bailey comes back as Molly, a mischievous Beaglier, reuniting with neglected, 11 year-old C.J. (Abby Ryder Fortson), and C.J.’s best friend/neighbor Trent (Ian Chen).
Then grown CJ (Kathryn Prescott) is bereft when her abusive ex-boyfriend (Jake Monley) kills Molly. Baily is again reborn as Big Dog, a mastiff. Eventually, C.J. and Trent (Henry Lau), along with Bailey-re-embodied-again as Max, a feisty Yorkshire terrier, wind up in New York City.
Adapted from W. Bruce Cameron’s best-sellers, the clichéd, interconnected vignettes are cobbled together by novelist Cameron, Maya Forbes, Cathryn Michon & Wallace Wolodarsky and directed by TV comedy veteran Gail Mancuso (“Modern Family,” “Roseanne”), who goes for formulaic emotional engagement over character development.
On the Granger Gauge, “A Dog’s Journey” is a shamelessly sentimental 6, chronicling canine reincarnation.
(Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
