I cried, a lot, when Freddie Mercury died. I wasn't alone. This film, which has been pretty ravaged by critics but adored by fans, has a lot of the music which made Queen a star. And it's a good film. It's just not great. It's a rock star biopic. We know the history, we know what happens in every rock star story. From nothing to the big break to fame to drugs to relationships which implode to band breaking up to reconciliation (maybe) and reflection back on their golden years. Yadda yadda yadda. That being said, I sat through this because it was Queen and it was Freddie Mercury and there is that voice, that sound, that "imagining" he had for great music. The tale clarifies a few things, like his family background and his relationship with Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton should have gotten more nods for her sensitive portrayal here) but leaves much of Freddie's real story, his inner life, his passions, alone. It is the story of Queen with a broad watercolor brush, leaving darkness mostly to the side. Rami Malek, whose work I like (I voted for him as Best Actor in "I, Robot") has gotten acclaim from his efforts here although I couldn't help but feel the actor was challenged by both the prosthetic teeth and being asked to do a British accent. And no, it's not him singing. A computerized blend of actual Queen and a Canadian singer named Marc Martel was used to replicate the amazingness of Freddie's gift. The movie could have used editing. Coming in at a weighty 134 minutes it could have been shorter given the lack of depth. They do show the entire Live Aid performance, which lasted 20 minutes, so that is a part of it, but all it did was leave me craving the real show. Somehow I don't think that's what the producers intended. It's an "entertaining" film. See it for the music. See it and remember how truly great this group was, a brief moment of modern musical brilliance, before it all came crashing down.
No comments:
Post a Comment