‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ Review: The Original King of Pop Gets the Satisfying Documentary He Deserves

variety.com:

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic There’s a moment in “Elton John: Never Too Late,” a robustly satisfying and emotional documentary about the life and career of Elton John, that captures him, in a most revealing way, in his ’70s heyday.

It’s a clip from a television interview, in which Elton is explaining how he writes a song. The clip must be from 1971, and Elton, still looking like a puppy child, with rectangle-framed glasses and plenty of shaggy hair, sits at an upright piano and brings out a sheaf of lyrics — pages all written in longhand by his collaborator, Bernie Taupin.

Elton wants to show us his method, so he talks about a song he just wrote, called “Tiny Dancer,” and finds the lyrics to it.

He explains how he scanned through them and realized, when he saw the word “ballerina,” that it would have to be a slow-tempo song.