This will rock you.

Or at least it rocked me. Certainly the reviews, both professional and casual, are mixed over this movie, and as such your reaction is going to depend a great deal on your viewpoint and what you bring to the auditorium.

Bohemian Rhapsodyroughly covers from when Freddie Mercury joined Queen 1970, though that was not the band’s name at the time through their Live-Aid performance in1985. The story focuses on the charismatic Mercury following him through what is a fairly standard rock-star narrative arc, his early days of establishing his performance styles, the twin paths of his evolving understanding of his own sexuality while dealing with the poisons that fame and success bring, and the eventual revelation that real meaning in life is found in friends, love, and art. One common thread in the negative reviews is that this film’s execution brought little that was new in the way that this familiar path was presented and that may be true. I myself have seen few musician bio-pics and as such have not had the form beaten into my brain. I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I found all the performances to be endearing and believable, I was emotionally invested not only in Mercury’s arc but the entire band as well. Having glimpses at who wrote which songs and such brought to me a greater understanding of who Queen was beyond their flamboyant front man,

Another thread I have seen in reviews concern the treatment of Mercury’s sexuality and his relations with both men and women. I though there several reviewers have missed critical points in the part of the story and the one that perhaps best exemplifies the off-base interpretation is Sheila O’Malley’s at rogerebert.com.  Let me point you to two observations she made about the film.

 

He falls in love with Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton), and looks shocked and disturbed when a trucker gives him a seductive side-eye at a restroom in middle America.

 

In the scene earlier in the film where Freddie first sees Mary, the woman whom he would love for the rest of his life, he not only is captivated by her beauty but give looks of interest to a handsome man also in the same setting. When Freddie is speaking on an outside pay phone at a truck stop in America and the trucker gives him the come hither look Freddie’s reaction to me is not of a man shocked and disturbed, but rather of a man tempted and frightened by that temptation. it was clear that the scene depicts the trucker ‘cruising’ for anonymous gay sex and it leaves unanswered the question if Freddie followed him into that restroom.

 

Later, Mary says to him, “You’re gay, Freddie,” and he responds, “I think I’m bisexual.”

 

As I remember the film this is factually inaccurate as the line are delivered in reverse order as O’Malley has presented them here. In the scene Mary and Freddie as are having difficulties and Freddie is trying to confess his new understanding of his own sexuality, Mary has already stated that she has known that not only is something wrong between them but that is has been wrong for some time. Freddie says that he thinks he is bisexual and Mary responds with “You’re gay.” This makes the scene play out very differently. Freddie still unwilling to accept himself for whom and what he is tries to make a half-measure and Mary, with a more objective viewpoint, doesn’t allow a half lie to stand.

Bohemian Rhapsodyexceeded my expectation and left me thrilled and moved not only by Freddie’s journey but the loved ones he traveled with along that all too brief road. The film to me is ultimately about love, love for you friends, love for kindred souls, love of art, and learning to love yourself in an honest and egotistical manner. My recommendation is hurry and see it.