How Accurate Is 'Rocketman'?

The Big Picture

Rocketman takes many liberties with the true story of Sir Elton John, adjusting events and timelines to fit the artistic vision of the film.
The movie prioritizes emotional payoff over factual accuracy, aiming to bring viewers closer to Elton John's experience rather than simply depicting what happened.
The fantastical elements and rearranged release dates of songs were designed to convey feelings and emotions, making Rocketman feel more like a musical than a traditional biopic.

It's a weird thing, to have one of the best biopics around not be exactly a biopic. That's the case with Rocketman, the movie that tells the story of how SirElton John overcame his addictions and burnout to consolidate himself as one of the greatest musical icons ever. It becomes evident this isn't your regular movie of the sort when we see Taron Egerton's iteration of John float and go through many fantastical experiences that just can't happen, unfortunately. Director Dexter Fletcher and writer Lee Hall took many other liberties to adjust the story of John's life to the artistic vision behind the project, and the result works perfectly, even if ignoring or changing some of the events.

Rocketman

RBiographyDramaMusic

A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John's breakthrough years.

Release Date May 31, 2019 Director Dexter Fletcher Cast Bryce Dallas Howard , Tate Donovan , Jamie Bell , Gemma Jones , Charlie Rowe , Stephen Graham , Jess Radomska , Taron Egerton , Richard Madden Runtime 121 Minutes Main Genre Drama Writers Lee Hall Studio Focus Features Tagline Based on a True Fantasy Website Expand

What Events Does ‘Rocketman’ Change in Elton John’s Story?

There are many things that Rocketman changed about Sir Elton John's actual history. We're not talking only about one of the most successful and talented stars of the 1970s and music in general, but also about a very complex character that is the subject of the picture, so there are a few different fronts we need to look at. Release dates, for example, are constantly rearranged. Personal life details, too. If it's factual accuracy you're looking for, then simply don't expect Rocketman to get it right, because it's not about that.

The most obvious differences are related to when Sir Elton John released some of his records and hit songs. During his childhood sequence, for example, the movie plays "The Bitch Is Back." This should be obvious, but young Reggie Dwight didn't write that song as a child; it came out in 1974. Another example is the scene in which he auditions in 1967. He plays two of his classics, "Daniel" and "I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues." Those two songs were actually released in 1973 and 1983, respectively. Another song that only came out in 1983 is "I'm Still Standing," which the movie uses to depict Sir Elton's comeback after rehab. The thing is, he went to rehab in 1990, so that couldn't have been his comeback release. Speaking of rehab, Rocketman shows Sir Elton abandoning a sold-out Madison Square Garden show and going straight to rehab, which factually couldn't have happened. He did have a concert at that venue canceled in 1984, but he only checked in rehab in 1990. Finally, "Crocodile Rock" came out in 1972, two years before the iconic Troubadour concert in 1970, despite the movie showing it being played then.

This leads us to the personal aspect of Rocketman's accuracy. Sir Elton John checked in rehab after the death of Ryan White, one of the most tragic deaths of the AIDS epidemic, which isn't mentioned in the movie. Going back to his early career, the movie shows young Reggie choosing "John" as his artistic surname in reference to John Lennon when it was actually referencing Long John Baldry, a rock icon from the 1960s. In his family, the movie shows his relationship with his family as being difficult, with him often being at odds with his mother, Sheila (Bryce Dallas Howard). Although he rarely spoke of it in the past, it's possible to imagine it as such, as they spent eight years without talking between 2008 and 2016 - luckily, they reconciled before she passed in 2018.

Back to the Troubadour concert, Rocketman shows Elton John meeting John Reid (Richard Madden) at a party later that night in 1970. The concert took place in August, but John and Reid only met at a Christmas party in Motown's UK offices that year. Another romantic relationship of Elton John's that Rocketman rearranges in time is his marriage to sound engineer Renate Blauel (Celinde Schoenmaker). The movie shows them singing "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," which was released in 1974, but, in fact, John met Blauel in 1983, and they got married in 1984. Sadly, the movie doesn't show when Elton John met his husband, David Furnish, but we'll tell you: they met in 1993 and are happily married to this day.

Why Are There So Many Discrepancies in ‘Rocketman?'

It may be weird to think in such terms for a biopic, but the discrepancies between Sir Elton John's real life and how it is depicted in Rocketman are what makes the movie so special. Many movies of the genre take liberties because it's impossible to portray someone's life with 100% accuracy. Even documentaries often suffer to achieve this. In the case of Sir Elton, he's such a beloved and celebrated icon with such an incredible story, that his biopic did the right thing in prioritizing emotional payoff rather than factual accuracy.

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Dial it up to eleven!

The fantastical elements of Rocketman, especially, are rooted in the movie's intention to bring the viewer an experience closer to what it felt like for Sir Elton instead of simply depicting what it looked like. Back in 2018, before the movie's release, Taron Egerton was already talking about this: "Everyone thinks it’s a biopic. It isn’t. It’s a fantasy musical, so it’s actually his songs used to express important beats in his life at emotional moments." Director Dexter Fletcher had a similar vision about it: "My approach is always, it's a memory, not a biography. And a memory is absolutely linked and connected to feelings." There are ways of conveying this emotional weight without using fantastical elements, of course, but it wouldn't feel true to Sir Elton's story and his larger-than-life persona.

The factual differences regarding release dates of songs, for example, were conceived exactly to convey feelings and emotions. In this aspect, Rocketman was designed to be more like a musical instead of a proper biopic, according to Fletcher: "It's completely irrelevant when the song was written. Does it fit? What will you need to achieve at this moment? We didn't write the film around the songs." And, let's face it, a musical is much more in league with Sir Elton's personality and artistic prowess than a regular biopic.

Another important aspect of Rocketman is that more than a biopic, it's also a story about burnout. The very song that lends the movie its name is about it, how one eventually ends up alone while exhausting themselves. Sir Elton is shown as an extremely intense person who doesn't know how to balance relentless touring, creative pressures, and personal struggles, which leads to his passions becoming a heavy weight on his mental and emotional well-being. His turning to drugs is a symptom of the overwhelming expectations placed upon him by everyone around him, but mostly himself. Success comes at a price in any professional area, and Rocketman highlights the dangers of neglecting one's mental health in its pursuit.

Sir Elton John himself wrote an essay about what it felt like watching his own story unfold onscreen. To ensure a good degree of emotional accuracy (rather than factual), writer Lee Hall spent some time with Sir Elton listening to stories, anecdotes, and tidbits about his life - those things may seem little and unimportant, but they are what make us understand how we deal with life. About how all that connects to his portrayal by Egerton, he was very direct: "It’s obviously not all true, but it’s the truth." And if the man says so himself, who are we to disagree?

Rocketman is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

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