Elton John: Never Too Late

The latest fawning, for-fans-only documentary/concert film about an aging rock star looking back on his earlier years, ping pongs back and forth between the seventy-five-year-old Sir Elton John—an elder statesman of the music industry, the queer community, and rock 'n' roll history with a loving family, a podcast, a farewell tour to repair for—and the young Elton John, an unhappy but supremely successful touch-bearer for glam rock, sobriety, being true to oneself, and becoming a star despite not looking like one. It is hard not to like Elton John, so unless you just can't stand his music, you'll enjoy this movie co-directed by his husband and manager David Furnish and R. J. Cutler (A Perfect Candidate, The September Issue, Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry).

Furnish also produced the unforgivably awful Elton John biopic Rocketman in which Taron Egerton starred as John. While this documentary focuses on some of the same stuff as that fictionalized feature, it feels far more authentic here. Most of the focus in Elton John: Never Too Late is on John's early years and his fortuitous pairing and decades-long musical partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin, his toxic relationship with former lover and manager John Reid, his friendship with John Lennon, and his strong desire to settle down and have a family. Everything builds to his return to Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles for his final American concert on Nov. 20, 2022. There is far less footage of this show than one might imagine (was it just not that good?). However, John's emotional performances and addresses to the audience feel genuinely emotional and moving. It's another authorized biography (made by the subject's spouse, no less) that lacks any edge or whiff of controversy that hasn't long since been turned into a heroic narrative, but you get to watch him play "Crocodile Rock" and many of his other great tunes, why would you complain about that?