standard celebrity biopic

Rating: 5/10 (6 March 2019)

Bohemian Rhapsody follows the well-worn groove of celebrity bio-pics, as a brilliant artist pushes his vision into the world while dealing with personal travails before ultimately doing a triumphant celebratory something (the other path, not taken, is similar but with a downbeat ending).
Rami Malek makes a persuasive rock star; theatrical, intense, egotistical, driven, his oversized personality masking the lonely, unconfident inner man.
But Malek's Freddie Mercury is also pretty annoying, self-centered and arrogant, and ultimately he struck me as someone I wouldn't want to meet. And while at first I found the movie generally entertaining, fueled by Queen's music and Mercury's drive, my attention began to flag as the film became increasingly soap operish, and the final recreation of the 20-minute LiveAid concert was something only a concert-movie fan (I am not one) could love.
For me the movie was most notable for the trivia I learned along the way. We Will Rock you was conceived as an audience participation song. Zoroastrianism is still practiced. The filmmakers have no idea when Fat Bottomed Girls came out (judging by where the put it in the movie).
Admittedly I am in the minority on IMDB, where almost everyone is raving about this film. And while I was increasingly bored, at the end I looked over at my girlfriend and she was weeping, which I wouldn't have even guessed as a possible reaction to the film. So I guess if you like music-heavy, somewhat fictionalized, thoroughly manipulative biopics, you might love this.