BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

I had heard some mixed reviews going in to this. Mostly that Rami Malek was wonderful as Freddie Mercury but the film as a whole was average. In addition, there were creative differences between the band and potential actors (Sacha Baron Cohen comes to mind as originally he was set to play Freddie). Between the startup problems and the less than stellar reviews, I was hoping the movie would be good. Not only was it good, it was better than I was anticipating. A wonderfully paced film that takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions throughout. Rami absolutely did nail it as Freddie and the band was given their fair share of screen time as well so it didn't feel like just a movie about Freddie Mercury. The film ends with their performance at Live Aid and while they reenacted a few of their numbers from that show, overall, once departing the theater, I had felt like I just attended a concert. An amazing and powerful movie and one of my favorites of the year! 8.5/10