When you’ve been as famous as Elton John for as long as Elton John — he’s been a solo professional for 55 years — it can be hard to find a new way to tell your story. The contours of his career are almost archetypal for a musician: early virtuosic success, a crash-and-burn moment, then redemption. In John’s case, that redemption story is tied up with both getting sober and meeting David Furnish, who later became his husband, in the early 1990s.
Furnish directed a 1997 TV movie, “Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras,” which chronicled the singer’s balance between public and private life. In 2019, the jukebox musical biopic “Rocketman,” starring an excellent Taron Egerton and directed by Dexter Fletcher, recounted John’s life in lightly fantastical mode, as befits the subject.
Now Furnish, along with the seasoned documentarian R.J. Cutler, has directed another film about John that, while quite obviously intended to extend and burnish his reputation in his post-touring years, feels heartfelt and charming in a way films like this can’t usually pull off. “Elton John: Never Too Late” (streaming on Disney+) blends two timelines. Archival footage and excerpts from John’s diaries provide the first one, a look back at his early career, as well as his struggles to publicly own his sexuality and addictions.
Those scenes are woven together with more contemporary footage, shot during his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, leading up to his Farewell From Dodger Stadium show on Nov. 20, 2022. There’s obviously a lot here for fans to enjoy, and you can feel the intimacy afforded by Furnish’s direction. John seems relaxed and happy, but also wistful, not quite ready to say farewell, whatever the name of the tour might suggest.
In fact, what’s best about “Elton John: Never Too Late” is his insistence on looking forward. The film portrays him as enthusiastic about young people and dedicated to promoting them when he can. In several scenes, he’s hosting his podcast, talking with (somewhat star-struck) youthful musicians and playing their music. He also speaks with lightly bittersweet love about his sons, Zachary and Elijah, born in 2010 and 2013. John is now 77, and knows there’s a good chance he won’t be around for many of their milestones or to see his own grandchildren. He’s effusive in his affection for them, whether they’re together or talking over FaceTime, but the tinge of sadness is there, and it’s moving.
There’s nothing revelatory in “Elton John: Never Too Late.” But aside from acting as a service to fans, it’s a good look at how the singer wishes to be remembered in his late career: unflaggingly positive, loving, supportive and grateful to have experienced such an incredible life. It’s true that every documentary about a musician made with their involvement functions, on some level, as a piece of marketing, an attempt to write the narrative of their life. That mode can get a bit wearying. But when the results are this endearing, it feels like a little celebration instead.
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