Quick Take: Definitely Watch “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the Big Screen

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By Kevin Price, Managing Editor of USADT and Host of the Price of Business radio show.

I want to thank the many reviewers that panned this movie for its many inaccuracies.  The treatment of how Freddie Mercury told the band about his AIDS diagnosis (and when), the failure to include his background as an opera trained singer, the melodrama when he announced he was doing a solo project (when he was not even the first to do it in the group) are among the many pointed out by others.  In fact, IMDB has documented literally dozens of “goofs” in the “Bohemian Rhapsody” story.  I thank them because they allowed me to alter my expectations and to look at it differently.  If I had seen it without the litany of criticisms, I might have had a similar attitude.  Since Queen was one of my favorite groups of all time,  I was going no matter what, even if it was just to listen to the music, which was extraordinary.

Instead of looking at the film as a biopic, I treated it as an “inspired by” film, and I am glad I did.  There is so much to be inspired by in it.

• As mentioned before, the music was extraordinary.  In spite of all the criticisms do not be surprised if this film gets Oscar talk for sound editing.
• The acting was extremely good.  Besides looking much like the characters they played, most did a very good job of portraying them as well.  At times, it had a documentary “feel” to it.
• This film is actually a celebration of overcoming addiction and learning self love.  The results were — of course — far from perfect on every level, but it shows the struggle of the human condition and the effort to overcome it.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give the film a 7.  One of my favorite measures of a film is how long did it feel  like it was.  The longer it feels, usually the less I like it.  For me, this flick went pretty fast and I enjoyed almost every minute of it, once I got over the fact it wasn’t REALLY a biography.

See It while it is on the big screen, that certainly added to its value.