Crocodile Tears (On Rocketman)

Public atonements by celebrities can often be veiled narcissism. If Elton truly wants to be an Anybody, we didn’t need a biopic--or should have been done by someone like Almodovar or even Scorcese--where personality is "in costume", and directs the attention to the art and artist, instead of the crucifixion.

There's a "sour grapes" that came through in the form of the avoidance of inner life. If the main trope is crucifixion/resurrection, the resolution is anticlimactic: Elton finds redemption in shopping.

If biopics were biographies this one would be by a Kitty Kelley rather than by a rock journalist. With the more serious rock journalist approach, we'd get the early "Tumbleweed" Elton (which I loved and still love) as opposed to the Kitty Kelley/Kiki Dee Elton, which is how this film feels.

On his musicianship:

Superb, and great songcraft, regardless of style. In music school, we had to do play-and-sings, where a piece was assigned that we'd have to simultaneously sight-read and sight-sing. Some people rocked at this. He said he doesn't practice the piano; The practice comes from simply performing. (This is a clue to his musical MO, and perhaps in life--that it's just for the show and nothing else). But to the listener it's different. Some of us focus on songwriting. In interviews, he seems indifferent about the craft--that it's mysterious and he doesn't know its origin. But it is ultimately spiritual, but he hasn't seemed to get that part yet, even after experiencing crucifixion and resurrection, then immortality on celluloid.

Crocodile Rock is one of my least favorite Elton tunes. What I liked was the twangy Elton, rather than the meltdown Elton (Melton).