After assuming a pseudonym and, ostensibly, a whole other identity, the newly named Elton John answered a magazine advertisement that called for songwriters. His compositional skills were paired up with the lyrical talent of Bernie Taupin and, together, their professional partnership took root.
At this point in the documentary, notable occurrences like album releases and hit singles flash by in rapid succession. Granted, this was an era that, for Elton John at least, yielded a torrent of output and creativity. Unfortunately, though, this film fails to adequately examine the significance of those occurrences. Rather, it merely presents them in a cursory overview, a timeline stretching from John’s 1969 solo debut, Empty Sky, right on through to 2006’s The Captain And The Kid.
In a nutshell, Elton John: Someone Like Me fails to measure up to its intent of presenting an authoritative biography of this music legend. The life story of Elton John, with all its splendor and despair, is certainly one worth exploring in depth. It’s unfortunate that this documentary does not approach it as such.
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Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
In fairness, I think you'd need a lot more than 98 minutes to even adequately tell Elton's story. You could probably do sixty minutes on the mid-seventies (when he was arguablthe biggest rock act in the world) alone.
Good review though Donald, I'll probably be steering away from this one.
-Glen
2 - Glen Boyd
(arguably the biggest rock act in the world) was what I meant to type above.
Time to go to bed...
-Glen