Rocketman

It's Taron Egerton as Elton John who carries and sells the film -- often backwards and in platform heels. Wild as it may sound to approach such a mercurial and marvelous character with beautiful restraint, Egerton's performance is meticulously calibrated.

Really, on the basis of "Rocketman," you'd think Elton John never had a moment of fun.

"Rocketman" is far from a drama of introspection-and, unfortunately, Egerton's performance, as directed by Fletcher, doesn't add to the protagonist's inner life.

Rocketman has unusual dramatic heft for a jukebox musical, but that's a big curve on which to grade - the characters are still skin-deep.

Rocketman never quite finds the wild momentum its characters seem to chase around in all those musical numbers.

If you need somebody to recount the rise of a British rock god from pallid suburbia to the baroque extremes of fame, and to create a stir without causing too much of a fuss, Fletcher is your man.

Rocketman takes the traditional musical idea of songs being the outward expression of a character's inner thoughts and allows us a deep dive into the mind of this artistic genius.

Elton John's robust rockers and heartfelt earnest songs all get their proper due in tonally perfect context.

Good performances, fun songs.

It was fine.