Elton John: Never Too Late, on Disney+

Elton John also writes the songs he sings, but only the music. The lyrics were usually penned by his longtime collaborator, Bernie Taupin, but not always. He had some moderate sized hits with Tim Rice too, like “The Circle of Life” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” That was the start of his association with Disney, which continues when R.J. Cutler & David Furnish’s documentary Elton John: Never Too Late premieres this Friday on Disney+.

Cutler, the director of Belushi, and Furnish, John’s manager and life-partner, follow him on his final Farwell Yellow Brick Road tour. For the record, John is not retiring from music—just the out-of-town concerts that take him away from Furnish and their two young sons (so give him credit for forgoing a lot of money, for the sake of his family life). In between each stop, the pop showman takes stock of his career. It turns out, the movie Rocketman was pretty accurate chronicling his life.

However, Cutler and Furnish are not trying to produce a strict biography. Since they have the man himself at their disposal, they largely follow him down the memory lane trips he feels like taking. For instance, he memorably makes a hero’s return the tiny Troubadour club, which launched him to fame in 1970. Fittingly, it all builds to the tour’s climax at Dodger Stadium, revisiting John’s celebrated 1975 concerts, bedecked in his sequined Dodger uniform.

Frankly, Never Too Late does a better job covering John’s musc, album by album, than Rocketman, which prioritized the sex and the drugs over the rock & roll. John also discusses his substance abuse with brutal honesty, readily admitting it hurt his music.

Weirdly, Never Too Late offers a counter-narrative to the documentary The Lost Weekend, which discussed John Lennon’s relationship with his former assistant May Pang. Understandably, John talks at length about his friendship with the former Beatle. While John takes satisfaction from facilitating Lennon’s reconnection with Yoko Ono at the Rocket Man’s concert, the Lost Weekend filmmakers present it as a tragic turning point in the ex-Beatle’s life (and also in the lives of Pang and Julian Lennon).

Regardless, fans should be delighted by the way the doc so successfully conveys a sense of John’s personality. Obviously, Furnish had the right personal connections. Again, he and Cutler had the right instinct to keep the music very much forward. (To really appreciate his melodies, check out the jazz arrangements played by Pietro Tonolo, Steve Swallow, Gil Goldstein, and Paul Motian on Your Song: The Music of Elton John.) Strategically, the co-directors hold “Your Song” back for the Dodger Stadium finale, which ends the film on a stirring note.

Clearly, Cutler, Furnish, and John mostly had the singer-songwriter’s loyal fans in mind while they were filming Never Too Late, but the execution is strong enough to hold the attention of more casual viewers. It is revealing, but not to the point of uncomfortable excess. Recommended for its insight into how the man made his music and dealt with fame, Elton John: Never Too Late starts streaming this Friday (12/13) on Disney+.