Sing Street (2016)

In Dublin in the mid-1980s, a boy named Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is sent to a new school because his parents – on the brink of separating – can no longer afford to keep him at the old one. At the Synge Street school, Conor is bullied by the headmaster as well as by the kids, but finds solace with a handful of friends with whom he forms a band. Mostly, he just wants to impress Raphina (Lucy Boynton), who he sees outside the school and immediately fancies. 

Written and directed by John Carney, this has the small-town charm and romance of Gregory’s Girl. It’s funny and endearing, and has you rooting for Conor from the very start. The music is terrific, too – both the original material that Conor writes with the band and also the records that his brother Brendan (Jack Reynor) “educates” him with (The Cure, Joe Jackson and so on). 

There are some priceless scenes, such as when the family watch and discuss Duran Duran on Top of the Pops, or when the band are encouraged to wear make-up to film a video. There’s also plenty of poignancy, and some of the school cruelty sections are unbearable. But without giving way to sentimentality, it resolves into a hugely satisfying and heartwarming conclusion.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Awkward, hugely disappointing, almost childish biopic of Queen. The story has been dumbed down and sanitised (hardly anyone seems to drink or take drugs) and other than Freddie Mercury – whose bisexuality is touched upon – none of the characters have any depth whatsoever. The dialogue is poor. Some of the scenes are like a Spinal Tap-esque parody sketch. You keep waiting for the punchline, but it never arrives. You wouldn’t know from this film that they were an interesting group at all. The songs remain remarkable, and it’s always nice to hear them again, but even the scene showing the group pulling together “Bohemian Rhapsody” falls flat. We get the nuts and bolts of them recording the piano part, the guitar part, the harmonies and so on, but there’s nothing about how something so unusual was composed or what inspired it. 

Freddie Mercury is rendered without subtlety by Rami Malek. He somehow overplays the flamboyance while forgetting the all-important charisma. There are too many scenes showing his cats, and I like cats. 

By the time the film climaxes at the 1985 Live Aid show it appears to have completely given up with the various plot threads. Instead, it contrives to go out on a high note without having to resolve anything. 

Ultimately, you wonder why this film got made and who it was made for. There’s no real story to reveal, because the basics of their story is already so universally known. I was left wishing I had seen a comprehensive Queen documentary with concert footage and interview clips. That would have been so much more engaging.