About the film (courtesy of Universal Pictures):
Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James). Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed … and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed.
Performing songs by the greatest band in history to a world that has never heard them, and with a little help from his steel-hearted American agent, Debra (Kate McKinnon), Jack’s fame explodes. But as his star rises, he risks losing Ellie — the one person who always believed in him. With the door between his old life and his new closing, Jack will need to get back to where he once belonged and prove that all you need is love.
The concept of Yesterday is a very interesting one. With the recent run on quality movies revolving around music the past few years, creativity has been placed on the front burner to bring a distinguishable separation between these types of films. Whiplash (2014), Straight Outta Compton (2015), La La Land (2016), The Greatest Showman (2017), A Star is Born (2018), Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) and Rocketman (2019) are all films with a strong musical backbone but each was very different from the next. The one trait that they all share is that they were loved and embraced by audiences as well as critics. This is a crowded ocean to swim in, so you best bring your A-game or risk being quickly being swept away by the high tide of expectations.
Director Danny Boyle does what he’s done so many times before with Yesterday. He has taken a relatively small budgeted film and has transformed it into a real potential money maker. Himesh Patel’s portrayal of Jack Malik is a perfect marriage of untapped talent, vulnerability, snarkiness and the drive to do what it takes to succeed. His character is one that just about anyone should be able to get behind. Lily James is right at home in her role as the supporting friend/manager/”maybe something more” Ellie.
While Lily James already has experience singing and dancing her heart out in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), she is not on that end of things this time around. Quite honestly, I had hoped for a bit more from that side of things. Who knew that Ed Sheeran could be so entertaining playing himself? And Kate McKinnon is a very welcome addition in the part she plays. Let’s just say that she definitely channeled a little of her Saturday Night Live mojo to give us her character.
The true star of Yesterday are the songs and music of The Beatles. There are so many songs to choose from and it’s a fun journey seeing which ones are chosen to play. Himesh Patel looks (and sounds) right at home belting out these times tunes as fans will enjoy the sweet sounds floating into their ears. This is less on the serious side with a very fair amount of fantasy squeezed in. The only proper thing to say is to Let It Be and go with the flow. The acting, the story and the music should be enough to keep you entertained throughout. You can quietly sing along and have some fresh fun while enjoying this in theaters now.
