A Peek Behind the Curtain – Bohemian Rhapsody

For fans of music and film or, more specifically, music in film, 2018 is a good year. After Mama Mia: Here We Go Again embarrassed the genre with its uninspired and regurgitated drivel, A Star is Born took critics and audiences by storm with strong performances complemented by excellent original music. With awards season right around the corner, 20th Century Fox finally gave one of music’s most ineffable characters the spotlight. Bohemian Rhapsody may not be the Freddie Mercury biopic many have been waiting on for so long but it’s a good bit of fun and an enjoyable romp through Queen’s rise to fame.

It was a very long and arduous process to find the man who would play Mercury that began with Sacha Baron Cohen about a decade ago. He introduced numerous directors and versions of the script to the studio and surviving members of the band over the years but eventually left the project over “creative differences”. As suspected, Cohen wanted a much darker and outlandish film while Queen wanted to honor Mercury’s life and career without delving into the R-rated debauchery of their frontman. Since it is their story, no one should begrudge them wanting to honor their friend and celebrate the legacy of the music.

One of the biggest hurdles in casting the part was going to be finding someone who could embody Mercury without any ego attached. Everything happens for a reason and fortunately, the role found its way into the hands of Rami Malek. To say he was brilliant would be an understatement. For two hours and 14-minutes…he was Freddie…as if Mercury’s spirit crawled up inside of him and shot out of his mouth for one final epic performance. It was wise not to cast some super famous actor who would have brought his own celebrity to the table and it allowed Malek to fully inhabit the artistic space. Supposedly, he had been working on performing many of the vocals with the prosthetic teeth but it’s unclear what actually made the final cut. For better or worse, this role is going to define his career. He’ll undoubtedly be a front-runner for Best Actor and this portrayal will open many doors for him. What he does with the exposure will be interesting to see.

Bryan Singer is no stranger to controversy and bisexual trysts, so it’s tough to think of a director better suited for this task. While the movie is very much a celebration of the band and Mercury as a performer, this was more of a cursory glance than a deep dive. For those who have next to no exposure to Queen or their flamboyant lead singer, this was the perfect cliche rockstar movie. All the greatest hits were covered. The rags-to-riches and fall from grace. The redemption. Maybe it’s due to some moderate familiarity but the major points were all pretty much lined up from the outside looking in and more than two hours later, all you have are some very colorful broad strokes. Additionally, the final product is a bit light on factual accuracy as well but embellishments are usually made in situations such as these. Singer shouldn’t shoulder all the responsibility since the band wielded significant creative influence but for a guy who’s made some really financially successful films with depth, this wasn’t one of them.

Ultimately, this movie was about an iconic band and their beloved music. Susie Figgis did a remarkable job casting a strong group to surround Malek. Gwilym Lee is a dead ringer for guitarist Brian May, from the marvelous curly locks all the way down to the cadence of his speech. Of the supporting band members, Lee was most predominant but it was his character in opposition to Freddie that made him stand out. Ben Hardy played drummer Roger Taylor who had a significant role as more of the prototypical rock star. He wasn’t afraid fo confrontation and it’s on display several times throughout the film. Not that you’d recognize him from his role as Tim in Jurrasic Park but Joe (Joseph) Mazzello played bass player John Deacon and, in many ways, served as the heart of the band as a bunch of other things got in the way. The road for child actors is often difficult, especially when they experience success early on, so it was refreshing to see Mazzello in this capacity.

Bringing this project to fruition was challenging. On one hand, the film needed to pay homage to the subjects but, on the other, it also needed to have a broad enough appeal to create new Queen fans who leave the theater wanting more. That dichotomy ended up showing in the end with a Rotten Tomatoes score considerably lower than you’d expect at 60% but an 8.4 IMDB score stands in stark contrast. It certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort from the production side. Aaron Haye had worked visual effects on a number of films but this was his first time as a production designer. He did a good job crafting a strong visual tone for the picture, using a variety of vibrant colors and finely lit set pieces to punctuate the audacious wardrobes that were costumed by Julian Day. Obviously, there was a lot of material to pull from and certain scenes were direct recreations but making it look good on screen was an important piece of the puzzle.

Even when the pieces all come together, sometimes the bigger picture just isn’t as special as you’d hoped. Sure, it made $51-million on its opening weekend. There is no denying that Bohemian Rhapsody has an above average level of production quality across the board. It looked good, it sounded good…it was good. And if you have enough information to read between the lines, you can sort of fill in the gaps. However, while Malek’s performance was great, that alone didn’t elevate the other elements of the movie to greatness.

Recommendation: Whether a hardcore Queen mega-fan or a complete newcomer, this was a film for everyone. Obviously, fans will have a bit more invested and may even be disappointed to some degree but it’s still a must-see for those people. The casual movie-goer can still walk in, have fun and walk out happy. It may even be better with less familiarity…or no expectations.