The band who stole the show

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2019)

July 13th 1985 the world stopped for Live Aid the benefit double concerts in London and Philadelphia for famine relief in Africa. Via 13 satellites to 150 countries an audience of 1.9 billion. The greatest music acts performed and those who didn't lived to regret it. Tucked among the headliners were reformed band Queen. No one could anticipate the reaction when Freddie Mercury and Queen played. Donations had been flowing nicely but the phones lit up during and after Queens set. It was the concert of the century and Queen stole the show.
This movie project was years in development because its the Freddie Mercury story as much as we love Queen the band and who can replace Freddie? Nominated for Leading Actor for his performance as FM is Rami Malek. I wasn't sure in the first ten minutes if this movie would work but Malek has achieved the impossible. His performance is amazing.
Queen were our first schizophrenic rock band. No 2 members of the band were the same. The albums and tracks were wildly different from love songs to dance to anthems and even light opera. It was a collaborative group overplayed with a giant dollop of FM creative genius. Producer/Director Brian Singer (not nominated?) did a fabulous job with this movie. Great camera angles and pauses just long enough. When FM told the band he was going solo it was Brian May who said 'but you need us' and he was right! It was the bands push backs, rewrites and constant arguing that challenged them to achieve better than their best.
Without Freddie though there would be no movie because there's not much of a story, the good and the bad, whatever you may think of him. This movie makes A Star Is Born look tame by comparison. It's earned double the box office receipts so go figure that one. It surely deserves more than just 5 Academy Award nominations.