Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) might not be a great film. Per the people that decide those things anyway I guess.
Parts of it are a bit on the Rock Music Movie nose and it could have perhaps done a harsher and more sober dive into it all ala Todd Haynes (and i would love to see that film some day) BUT I went in with tempered expectations and came out full and happy and lifted and moved.
It’s more performance than it is study and I think perhaps that’s more appropriate for the subject. Pomp and artifice over dissection seem more fitting to the band, singer, and legacy and I think Freddie would probably agree were he still around.
Rami fully and completely embodies the part as perfectly as Gary, Jamie, and Joaquin did theirs to the point that each ones portrayals eventually will blend with the real things in popular memory.
All in all, Bohemian Rhapsody is a hell of a great time. Triumphant and tragic in feeling and scope.
See it in a theater. Loud.
Lest this sound like faint praise I assure you I had a blast. As did everyone else in the theater. I can’t wait to see it again, which is more than I can say for other more prestigious music biopics.
—jason malmberg
Flommist Jason Malmberg is a simple man who believes in brown liquor and small dogs. He also makes art sometimes. Copyright © 2018 Jason Malmberg.
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