Stubs - Yesterday

Yesterday (2019) Starring: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Ed Sheeran, Kate McKinnon. Directed by Danny Boyle. Screenplay by Richard Curtis. Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Bernie Bellew, Matthew James Wilkinson, Richard Curtis, Danny Boyle Run Time: 116 minutes. United Kingdom. Color. Musical, Fantasy

Being a life-long Beatles fan, I was intrigued by the first trailer for this movie and I’ve been looking forward to seeing it ever since. This seems to be the summer for rock fantasy musicals. Earlier this year was Rocketman, which more-or-less told the Elton John story but not really. Now this, which re-imagines the music of The Beatles in a modern world setting.

Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) plays Yesterday for Elie (Lily James) and friends
 and realizes they've never heard of it or The Beatles before.

The premise is that a struggling musician, Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), wakes up after a freak accident to discover that no one has ever heard of The Beatles. Playing their songs, he not only amazes his friends, but with the help of his manager, Debra Hammer (Kate McKinnon), he becomes an international superstar. While it’s hard for many of us to imagine a world without The Beatles, the film tries to answer how people would react to their music today.

I will admit I’m not very familiar with Himesh Patel, who I believe has appeared on the long-running British soap EastEnders, but he comes across here as a very likable and capable actor. You find yourself rooting for him. I look forward to seeing him in more films as the years go by.

Ellie was one of the few people who always believed in Jack in Yesterday.

Lily James plays Ellie Appleton, perhaps Jack’s first and most ardent fan. They have been friends for so long and she was the one person who always believed in him. James gives a fine performance here as well.

It should come as no surprise that Ed Sheeran plays a pretty good Ed Sheeran in the film. If there was one character he was born to play, then this is it. Jack is sort of his discovery and Ed uses him as an opening act before his own manager, Debra Hammer, takes over.

Ed Sheeran plays Ed Sheeran and gives advice to Jack on his way up.

Kate McKinnon, on the other hand, plays a stereotype and comes across as a bit of a caricature in the end. Her Debra Hammer is a bit like the impersonations she does on Saturday Night Live. I believe she has talent, but one fears that she might become a bit of a one-trick pony, like other SNL alums; I’m looking at your Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler. Maybe she shouldn’t play Shakespeare, but it would be nice to see her play someone who is more than gimmick deep.

I’m probably not telling you something you don’t already know, at least I hope not, but part of what made The Beatles what they were and their songs what they are, was their personalities; John, Paul, George and Ringo. The idea that their songs without them would be as popular is a bit of a fantasy, but one that you’d like to think could really happen. The songs, oftentimes played here with only one instrument, are truly great and hearing them played this way only drives home that point. However, you don’t see the progression The Beatles went through from Love Me Do in 1962 to Sgt. Pepper five years later. There was truly never anything like that and this film does not try to address that, presenting a song like Strawberry Fields Forever as a contemporary with Help!

There are things about this film which I wish I could tell you, but that would be spoiling it for you. Trust me, though, I did cry during this film and not about the songs, but about what might have been. If you see it, you’ll know what I mean and we can discuss.

If you’re not a Beatles fan, there is something really wrong with you and you should probably seek treatment, but if you’re like the rest of us, then Yesterday is fun nostalgia fantasy. You don’t need to have lived through Beatlemania to enjoy their music and if nothing else, it is the songs Paul, John, and George wrote that are really the stars of this film. No matter who is singing them, they do stand the test of time. Thanks to Danny Boyle for making this film and reminding us of that fact.