I waited longer than most to see it, mostly due to an over-packed fall schedule, and didn’t see the much-anticipated movie until five weeks after it came out.  “Bohemian Rhapsody” was worth the wait.

And that’s saying a lot, since many of my Facebook friends loved it so much that they’d already seen it a couple times. Reviewers, on the other hand, have not been so kind to this years-in-the-making biopic film.

The film project of Freddie Mercury and Queen’s ascent to the top of the rock world began in 2010. “Borat” comedic actor, Sasha Baron Cohen, was tabbed to play Freddie. By 2013, Borat was booted, and I was already getting fatigued reading about this biopic film. In hindsight, after seeing the movie, I get why they made that decision.

Rami Malek is an accomplished actor, but I’d never seen him in anything, and this made it easier for me to buy in to him as Freddie. He and the the live music scenes make this film well worth watching.

Bo Rhap has some historical inaccuracies, but that’s not uncommon for this type of film. Freddie, for instance, did not get diagnosed with the HIV virus just prior to the band’s triumphant Live Aid appearance in 1985. It was a couple years after that epic show that he tested positive for it. That show wasn’t a reunion show for Queen, which never actually split up and had just come off a world tour.

Regardless, I loved the movie. I thought I knew the Queen story well, but I ended up learning much more. I didn’t know about Freddie’s family situation at all or his engagement to Mary Austin. I didn’t know about Freddie’s unhappiness and loneliness, even during the band’s rise from rags to riches.

I spent the last half hour of the film holding back tears, which I didn’t expect coming into it. Of course, my family reminds me that I cried watching “Shrek.” If you have some time off this holiday season and haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor. It’s worth seeing twice.

Doc Watson