The Big Picture · Review · Discussion

Bohemian Rhapsody I Exit Survey (Ep. 94)

November 5, 2018/ 30 min/ Sean Fennessey · Rob Harvilla

Sean Fennessey and Rob Harvilla run an Exit Survey on Bohemian Rhapsody: a bad movie that gets by on the real Queen songs and a near shot-for-shot Live Aid finale, with a lip-synced Rami Malek turning in the best performance in it.

10 films across 2 segments.

AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.

Exit Survey: 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

Bohemian Rhapsody 2018

Number one movie in the country, $140M worldwide over the weekend, and both hosts agree it's a bad one: drab, predictable biopic beats and a band-mandated insistence that all four members matter. Bryan Singer directed until he left mid-shoot; Dexter Fletcher finished it. The hosts note the abandoned Sacha Baron Cohen / Stephen Frears version would have been rawer but wouldn't have gotten the Queen catalog. Rami Malek is the best thing in it, lip-syncing rather than singing, and the roughly 20-minute Live Aid recreation is the reason to see it.

The rock biopic, before and aftercomparison points the hosts reach for

A Star Is Born 2018

Playing next door in theater 10; Harvilla wandered in mid-'Shallow' and cried before doubling back to Bohemian Rhapsody. The other rock movie of the fall.

Walk the Line 2005

Fennessey rewatched it and thinks it has aged badly: Joaquin Phoenix sings Johnny Cash but 'sounds nauseous.' Their case against making the actor sing.

Get On Up 2014

Chadwick Boseman doesn't sing the James Brown vocals and it doesn't matter, because the dancing carries it. Cited for why lip-sync can help.

This Is Spinal Tap 1984

Harvilla's favorite of the form, if a mockumentary is allowed to count.

The Runaways 2010

His favorite real-life rock biopic: trashy, lurid, unbothered by accuracy or award ambition. Floria Sigismondi directed; Michael Shannon plays Kim Fowley.

Last Days 2005

Gus Van Sant's shapeless Kurt Cobain figure (Michael Pitt), made oblique because the estate wouldn't grant the real story.

Rocketman 2019

Unnamed in the episode: the upcoming Taron Egerton Elton John film, directed by Dexter Fletcher, who finished this Queen movie. Egerton sings; Fennessey isn't sold on the footage.

Vox Lux 2018

December's Natalie Portman-as-invented-rock-star film, one data point in the actors-playing-rock-stars trend the hosts flag.

Her Smell 2018

Alex Ross Perry's Elisabeth Moss rock movie, the third in that same trend.

Also mentioned raised along the way

In passing Wayne's World The Usual Suspects Dangerous Liaisons High Fidelity Papillon The Master Terminal Kingsman: The Secret Service

Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads

TV Mr. RobotThe Gong Show

Video games The Beatles: Rock Band