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Elton John really did perform a concertdressed as Donald Duck.
James Brown really was chased by police across two states.
Still, dont believe everything you see.
Its one of the films best sequences.
Its also almost certainly not how it happened.
Theres a fine line between embellishment and outright fiction, however.
Most biopics tread it.
Some pretend it doesnt exist at all.
He faces physical adversity after a riding accident.
Its whatNight and Dayleaves out that gives it a difficult relationship with the truth.
Linda was also several years his senior, and a divorcee, having escaped an abusive marriage.
The Porters marriage suffers because Cole cant stop working on one successful project after another.
It seems more envious than pitiable.
Even after his accident, Grants Porter seems like a fundamentally merry fellow.
That everyone knew what they were doing adds an air of disingenuousness to the film.
Porters longtime friend Monty Woolley, and actor and wit, plays himself.
Strictly speaking, much of itistrue.
But that doesnt mean theres much truth to it.
He was also, loosely speaking, a rock star.
Liszt did have a long, important friendship with Wagner, who married Liszts daughter, Cosima.
But even armed with this knowledge, its tough to make sense of the film.
He disappears into the role, even singing Hollys songs himself.
Hollys band, the Crickets, on the other hand, dont come off nearly as well.
Having previously sold their life rights to another project, J.I.
Allison and Joe B. Mauldin became, respectively, Jesse Charles and Ray Bob Simmons.
I thought it was a horrible movie.
I didnt see anything that was correct.
I imagine it was made up, Allisonsaid.
Its kind of sad for us.
In fact, Mozart and Salieri seem to have been quite cordial.
Sometimes truth runs deeper than facts.
Even by music-biopic standards, it squeezes a lot of ups and downs into a short running time.
The unforgiving TV-movie budget and spotty accent work doesnt help, either.
The band didnt love it: In 2019, frontman Joe Elliottcalled itthe biggest pile of shit ever made.
(Take a moment to let that sink in.)
Paddy Considine plays Thorogood as a man quietly seething with rage and class resentment who one day just snaps.
Jones never emerges as a distinctive character.
The facts might be straight, up to the questionable finale, butStonednever finds a story worth telling.
(Early member Michael Steele, who later joined the Bangles, is conspicuously absent, for instance.)
Her absence now looks more conspicuous than ever.
Yes, there was a club called CBGB.
Yes, Kristal managed the notorious-even-for-this-scene act the Dead Boys.
Beyond that, well, you wont learn a lot about punk or what CBGB meant here.
The problems as much a matter of focus as accuracy.
Given a front seat to history, all he can do is look annoyed.
Watching the film, its hard not to share his feelings, asCBGBmisses the point in scene after scene.
Its not based on a true story.
It plays like a detective story with occasional interruptions of unmistakable Mamet dialogue.
Thats to be expected in rock biopics.
But its in the home stretch thatBohemian Rhapsodyleaves reality behind almost entirely.
