Bohemian Rhapsody Movie Review

Last night I drove to my favorite theater to see Bohemian Rhapsody.  I'd heard about this film a while ago.  It was a somewhat troubled production with false starts and changes in cast and crew along the way.

Bohemian Rhapsody is the story of the rock band Queen and their enigmatic front-man Freddie Mercury.  They rose to fame out of the progressive rock era of the 1970's creating an iconic sound that many tried and failed to duplicate.

 The film opens with scenes from the Live-Aid concert at Wembley Stadium which was one of the most memorable performances of the band.  It then cuts back to the final lineup coming together outside of a pub one night as Brian May and Roger Taylor lament the loss of their lead singer and bass player. Along comes Freddie Bulsara, who did not fit the image of a lead singer at the time, but had the voice to win them over.  The film charts their successes together and their troubled times as well, without dwelling on anything too much or becoming preachy.  That can be a hard line to tread and Bohemian Rhapsody does it well.

 The story of Queen is a common one in the music industry back during a time when there was a fortune to be made with the right sound and the right backing.  The former "Freddie" Bulsara, now Freddie Mercury, was a front-man who came out of the era preceded by Mick Jagger that gave rise to the likes of Robert Plant, Elton John, and David Bowie.  The band's fights with the record company to produce their own unique sound are a common theme to many bands that came out of this period, as are the excesses of "the rock & roll lifestyle" that led many musicians to burn out and fade away.

 What makes Bohemian Rhapsody so different is the stellar acting and a story that flows nicely.  I've heard talk of an Oscar nomination for Rami Malek as Freddie and I think that's warranted.  He does a terrific job capturing his conflicts both personally and professionally, public and private.  My lone criticism isn't his fault.  Yes, Freddie Mercury had large teeth.  I never remember focusing on that when I watched Queen on videos all those years ago and here it seems overdone.  The teeth seem to be in your face every single moment.  They steal attention from what else is going on.  Gwilym Lee, who portrays Brian May, is the standout performance for me, though.  I could almost imagine I was watching a young Brian May on the screen; he blends himself into the role so well.

 There are several continuity and timeline issues as well.  One that stood out for me is when they show We Will Rock You being developed.  It's shown in 1980 when it was on the 1977 album News of the World.  1980 brought us Another One Bites the Dust and Crazy Little Thing Called Love from the album The Game.  Apparently there are several errors like this (or changes for the sake of the story) but this was the one that I picked up on immediately.  The filmmakers also played around a bit with the timeline of his AIDS diagnoses, something I had to look up when I came home.  It wasn't that well known yet in 1984 and Freddie was actually not diagnosed until 1987.

 Brian May and Roger Taylor are listed as executive music producers for the film and the music is fantastic.  I'd like to say that's an easy thing with Queen music, but I've seen films falter in that regard on more than one occasion.  I viewed the film in RPX and the sound was excellent. 

While Bohemian Rhapsody is not perfect, it does a great job telling a story without Freddie Mercury becoming the "poster boy for AIDS", something he didn't want from the outset, or preach about casual sex and drugs in the rock & roll scene.  It tells the story of a man who was an icon, not a hero.


















Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MISOGYNY IN HISTORY – CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT

Image
This was inspired by an exchange on a friend’s timeline after Lyle Waggoner died.   You remember Lyle, right?   He was a regular on the Carol Burnett Show and was one of the stars of the 1970’s Wonder Woman series, portraying Steve Trevor alongside Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman.   You’d think that willingly being to co-star to a female lead back in the 1970’s would prove he was safe from accusations he had issues with women, but of course not. In the comment section of the death notice someone shared on their page, one person had to bring up the fact that he at one time said that Lynda Carter was “blessed by the chest fairy” as something horrible he’d done and equivocated it to the “me too” movement.   I thought it was overreacting from the start, and made the statement that saying things like that wasn’t a big deal.   The response was essentially “wrong is wrong” and I couldn’t really be a woman if I was defending him. I grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s. ...
Read more

Presidential Politics in New Hampshire: Beto O'Rourke

Image
Other than the fact that he nearly beat Ted Cruz in Texas and a lot of people I know and respect really like him, I didn't know what to expect. How will his Texas politics play on a national stage? He was 20 minutes late, which didn't impress me. The meet-n-greet was held at Tuckerman's Brewery and people were buying beer and food. I dragged Danny with me since this will be his first primary and Presidential election and want him to meet the candidates and really listen to them, not just the sound-bites we are fed. I fed him a soft pretzel to keep him happy. I hadn't been to the brewery before. It has a good-sized space and they were packed in. He drew a much larger crowd than I was expecting for 3PM on a weekday. The brewery is a short walk from the middle school, and high school kids who don't drive could catch a bus after school to the middle school and walk here. There were a lot of young people here. Beto started off introducing himself by talking...
Read more

Let's Not Put Affectionate Men Back in the Closet

Image
The debate about Joe Biden and his showing affection to other people by touching them, hugging them, and kissing them in a non-sexual way has brought out a great deal of debate.  In this day and age after all of the revelations about inappropriate behavior by many men in power, there is some push back now and I agree. For years now women have been saying they want men who are more affectionate and show that affection.  My parents grew up in a time where men did not show affection to their children. Some might have in private, but in general it was frowned upon for men to hold and comfort their children in public.  Too much emphasis was placed on pleasing the head of the family, and that usually meant not burdening him with any emotional needs from the children.  That fell to the mother, as did nearly everything that happened beyond the front door. Since the 1970's, a lot has changed.  I pick that date because that's the frame of reference I have.  That ...
Read more