ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE - Mark Reviews Movies

Elton John: Never Too Late, Walt Disney Studios

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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 12, 2024

There are no new revelations or biographical details in Elton John: Never Too Late, which follows the eponymous musician's rise to fame in the early 1970s and his retirement from live performance a couple years ago. Is there a reason, then, for this documentary from directors David Furnish, who's also the subject's husband, and R.J. Cutler? There probably isn't for those who know about Elton John's well-publicized life and iconic career, except that we get to hear it this time from the man himself in a well-assembled and sharply focused narrative. In other words, there probably isn't a great reason, but the good-enough reason here is, well, good enough.

The documentary isn't just previously unheard interviews that John did in preparation to write his memoir, either. It's also a treasure trove of archival photographs and footage, which includes behind-the-scenes photos, recordings of live shows, and grainy, sped-up film of when John Lennon surprised everyone at one of John's concerts at Madison Square Garden. That would turn out to be the last time anyone would see Lennon perform on stage before his murder six years later in 1980. Nobody knows music history is being made as it's happening.

John certainly didn't seem to realize it at any point during his career, which seemed to fizzle out before it could begin in earnest. The '70s is the right period to cover for any story of worth about the musician, who found unexpected fame in the United States, following plenty of shows in high-profile clubs and after failing to make much of an impact on the charts in his native Britain.

Some of those concerts are iconic—and not just the pair at Dodger Stadium in 1975, when no solo artist had ever been popular enough to perform at any stadium in United States. There were his sets at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, which John revisits before his final North American concert at, of course, Dodger Stadium again. He finds the club, which seemed so large in his memory of those youthful days of pounding the piano keys, to quite small. That his two sons, the main reason why he decided to retire from the long absences and strain of touring, are there to watch him reminisce about those glory days is another good reason for this documentary.

It may be a brief biography, breezing through about five years in a flash of personal details and music, and also interrupted by the present-day scenes of the North American stretch of John's final tour, but it's quite the story regardless. The music, too, is great, which everyone probably knows, but mix of studio recordings and live performances on display here is a reminder of John's craft and his ability as a showman—especially in his heyday.

The biographical details, though, do feel more intimate than in a typical documentary charting the course of a life and career. After all, John isn't doing these interviews to explain how his professional life progressed but, in writing a memoir, to figure out where his mind and emotions were at those times. A lot of it was confusion, because of abusive parents, a father who never appreciated or even cared about his son's work, his wrestling with his sexuality, the lack of confidence all of that engendered in him, and, of course, the drugs and alcohol that he came to depend on to keep it at bay and him going.

John is pretty frank, because he knows the interviewer well from his decades of being the spotlight and of interest to reporters, so he speaks freely—about the abuse, both from his parents and his first real romantic partner and manager John Reid, and the drugs and moment he realized when something was very, very wrong, after taking sleeping pills and falling into his pool. There are major gaps in the narrative, obviously, because it's about his early life and career, but what's here gets at the heart of something about John, his music, his on-stage persona, and why it matters that now, in his 70s, he genuinely feels happy about where his life is.

It's refreshing, in a way, that the film bypasses so much industry talk, too, ignoring awards, only noting chart placements to affirm just how quickly and assertively fame came, and detailing professional relationships in terms of what they meant and still mean to him personally. John's perpetual lyricist Bernie Taupin is vital, obviously, to the songs, but to John, it's also the first time he ever felt as if he loved another person, since his parents were the way they were growing up and he never had any true friends until meeting Taupin by chance. His time with Lennon, leading to the two recording a hit duet together, is fascinating, too, especially when we learn that the former Beatle had to console an awestruck John in the bathroom after the performance at Madison Square Garden.

The impact of the music in the film can't be overlooked, either, because it's a great collection, mostly of greatest hits, that drives the momentum and tone of the narrative. John's in that rare category of musical artists whose songs have persisted for so long and become such a part of the cultural landscape that they possess an inherent sway. The filmmakers use them to fine effect, in conversation with John's story.

It really is enough, then, for Elton John: Never Too Late to succeed in what it sets out to do. That's not much, but it is, nonetheless, worthwhile.

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