The late great William Goldman once wrote that dialogue was one of the
least important elements in a screenplay - after watching Bohemian
Rhapsody finally I’m inclined to agree - it had some of the most on the
nose dialogue I can recall in a studio film in recent memory (“you
can’t have a single longer than three minutes! I tell you it can’t be
done!”) but for me the film still worked brilliantly - a tribute to the
music, lead performer, costume and production and yes the structure,
story and characterization of the script.
'm totally sympathetic to the
writers on something like this with so many people alive and so might
rights holders who have to be made happy... the weird thing is how
similar the scenes were to films like The Glen Miller Story (1955) ("I
tell you Glenn... a whole swing band... it'll never work") and The
Jolson Story (1948) ("I tell you Al, a film with sound... it'll never
work") ... both also huge hits.
The story does have great appeal - I mean Freddy Mercury is a fascinating character, Indian from Zanzibar who moved to England at a young age, a gay man whose great love was a woman, who lead one of the greatest rock groups of all time. And he did find true love with a partner towards the end, and you can't go wrong with your Indian dad hugging you just before Live Aid. There's also an Iago style character who has died meaning he could have flaw.
Remi Malek is a marvel. The other acting is far more variable - I didn't like the guy who played Roger, the one who was Brian May was protected by the hair, but the guy who played the bassist was good. There's solid support players like Tom Hollander, grappling with tricky dialogue. Mike Myers' cameo is shameful.
Moving, exhilarating, exasperating.
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