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Despite the tragedy, there was a strangely beautiful quality about Ozzy Osbourne's death last summer. His life ended just over two weeks after his farewell show with Black Sabbath in their hometown of Birmingham, and a only a quarter year after returning to the UK. View Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home as the revealing background illuminating that mysterious, yet beautiful last verse – a documentary following the heavy metal pioneer's closing period as he examines his legacy, beginnings, music, ill-health and final journey.

About that last subject, the septuagenarian dismissed the idea of heaven or hell. He demonstrated strong disapproval at the thought of ending his days in his second home of America and remaining permanently in what he called a "commercial imitation of a cemetery."

Health Struggles and Unexpected Passing

The musician had been suffering from a gradual development of Parkinson's disease for the last twenty-year period, which coupled with a spinal damage sustained in 2019 severely limited his mobility. Nevertheless, he succumbed unexpectedly to a myocardial infarction. Evidently, this programme was not meant to be a record of his final days. Rather, this amusing, absorbing hour-long film has been created from material first shot for a extensive reality series about the pair's decision to exit California and relocate to their old house in Buckinghamshire.

Documentary Origins

Production began in 2022, with the timeline skipping across years, producing a moderately unclear chronological understanding. Nevertheless, the creators have been able to pull together an intelligible story focusing on the couple's preparations for their significant transition: the refurbishment of their rural property Welders (which required a enormous artificial pond), the preparing belongings, and the emotional goodbyes.

Poignant Contradiction

Each scene is saturated with devastating dramatic irony. Sharon describes their UK homecoming as their "concluding phase" together, while eventually looking bewildered and unsettled during a solo visit to Ozzy's study ("it feels strange he's not here"). The musician feels a strong magnetic attraction back to his homeland; evidently demonstrating a urge to depart the US before it's too late.

"I never wanted to be American," he asserts, after the viewer sees on royal commemorative china shown conspicuously in his California residence. When inquired concerning what he was excited about regarding a UK summer, his reply shows typically irreverent: "Wimbledon."

Existential Necessity

Furthermore Ozzy contemplating the absolute requirement of stage appearances: he describes needing the audience "like air," he explains, as his final concert looms closer.

Screen Persona Evolution

Curiously, it's not only his musical journey that returned to its origins. In his subsequent phase as a groundbreaking television personality, the bat-chomping distinctively hairstyled Prince of Darkness was slowly transformed into a disoriented and (as he eventually revealed) regularly high family patriarch shuffling through a chaotic household.

Reassuringly, much of this documentary powerfully reminds viewers of The Osbournes, notwithstanding two decades passing since the television series ended. The distinctive features are fully evident: the acted normalcy and no-bullshit candour (Sharon: "We're boisterous, we're frank, but we're fairly regular"; Ozzy: "I wouldn't describe us as we're totally conventional!"); the shifting dialects of Jack and Kelly; the foul-mouthed tirades; the persistent, disgusting dog-related incidents. Seasoned professionals all around – including the animals seem to know how create sentimental humorous incidents.

Documentary Revisions

This retooled documentary was first intended to screen last month, but was pulled from the programming at the final moment at the relatives' insistence. The timing was evidently difficult – it would have been televised fewer than a thirty days subsequent to Ozzy's demise – but it's unknown whether concerns were also raised regarding the actual material, or if modifications were made. Except for the title alteration: it was originally listed as Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home.

Relationship Focus

This completed documentary certainly emphasizes the deep relationship between Ozzy and Sharon: rather than being a musical celebration, the primary focus is on his union with his wife of 43 years, who appears as a epitome of understanding and acceptance; a beloved grandmother and devoted wife who finds difficulty managing the conflicting requirements of both family roles (her husband desires to relocate to the UK; their children prefer their family to continue living close to the grandchildren).

Candid Disclosures

Ozzy is distinctly straightforward about his marital betrayals and alcohol consumption, while acknowledging Sharon's extraordinary faithfulness. He states, echoing earlier statements, that he cannot live without her.

Closing Moments

In the moving finale, video showing Ozzy's final journey through the roads of his hometown is paired with his own spoken words. "I've had a great life," he asserts, in his typically direct Birmingham accent. "I wouldn't alter a solitary moment."

Countless watchers report crying. This documentary might potentially have become a potentially exploitative production: an effort to manage the story by his family members; an attempt to capitalize on a celebrity's passing through a opportunistic broadcasting assignment; the reusing of a dead person's statements for emotional effect. Yet remarkably, it avoids being tacky or manipulative. Don't expect an unsanitized deep dive into Ozzy's full history and artistic output – rather value this remarkably private and profoundly emotional last goodbye.