Rocketman

Bursting with glitter, outsized emotions, and the sheer joy of music and a life well-lived, this glammy musical is the gorgeous biopic Elton John deserves. Delightfully trashing the staid rags-to-riches-to-decadence frame that most rock biographies favor, Rocketman takes more of a kaleidoscopic approach, gleefully mixing eras and placing musical numbers where they can best reveal something about John's life, rather than strictly sticking to when they were released. And, oh, what musical numbers! Though most rock biopics are built specifically to frame their subjects' musical output, that's also often where they go wrong, relegating deeply beloved hits to background noise or re-creating stage shows faithfully to blah effect. Rocketman gets it exquisitely right, transforming songs into eye-popping set pieces that practically vibrate with euphoria. For example, "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" starts with adolescent John shyly sitting behind a pub piano and explodes into the streets of London with lager louts, black-leather toughs on bikes, and a suddenly aged-up John playing carnival barker to a cadre of dancers.

Best of all is the treatment given to "Crocodile Rock," the opening number for John's very first show in America. The jaded hipsters filling the SoCal club don't expect much from this weirdly dressed little guy they've never heard of -- but John's first thunderous piano chords get them stomping and screaming, until the "la la la" chorus lifts them all simultaneously into the air, John's legs floating skyward as he sings. It's a potent visual metaphor for anyone who's ever felt carried away by a favorite song and a transcendent moment in the movie. Thankfully, even in the non-musical scenes, the film still shines. Egerton has plenty of charisma and charm and puts across a story anyone can relate to: someone who never felt like he was enough gradually learning his worth. And, in stark contrast to many biographies of gay subjects, John's sexuality is neither denied nor glossed over, with scenes of frank and flirtatious sex and affection. Yet John's sex life isn't made the center of the action, either; that place is held by the platonic friends-for-life love story between John and longtime collaborator Taupin. A movie that faithfully re-creates the events of its subject's life, and also makes its audience feel the emotions? Now that's rock 'n' roll.