Legendary musicians and bands have been prominent in the movie marketplace over the past year and Danny Boyle's "Yesterday" is the latest to celebrate the music of a beloved group. The movie features the music of The Beatles, without telling a standard biopic about the iconic musicians. Perhaps a standard biopic would have been better.
Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) has lofty dreams of being a singer. He stocks shelves at a department store during the day but spends his evenings playing his guitar and singing at bars and venues with minimal patrons. His longtime friend and manager Ellie (Lily James) is always at his side, trying to convince him every gig is a success. Jack's frustration reaches a boiling point after he plays to an empty tent at a local festival. He's done with music. What's the point to continue?
Late one night, Jack is riding his bike home when a blackout occurs. He doesn't see a bus coming and is thrown from his bike and hits his head on the pavement. He wakes up in a hospital, once again, with Ellie by his side. She is helping him and he references some of The Beatles' lyrics and she has no idea what he is saying. No one does; The Beatles no longer exist in the world's consciousness. When Jack plays some of the band's famous songs, his friends are in awe and Jack begins to pass The Beatles' songs off as his own. Quickly, Jack becomes famous for writing some of the world's best songs, is meeting with record executives, including Debra (Kate McKinnon), who is ready to make a lot of money off of Jack's newfound stardom. There's an inspired bit featuring Ed Sheeran, playing himself, as he takes Jack under his wing and pokes some fun at his own image.
"Yesterday" has such an intriguing premise and original idea but the screenplay, written by Richard Curtis, barely seems interested in exploring it on a deeper level. The movie is a concept with a barebones plot. The movie offers a chance to hear The Beatles music in a movie theater but so much of "Yesterday" feels like a soundtrack desperately searching for a movie. What Jack does is morally and artistically unforgiveable, and the movie isn't interested in seeing its original premise all the way through. Instead, it succumbs to a formulaic romantic comedy, which isn't woven in seamlessly enough and "Yesterday" feels like two movies at war with one another.
Boyle, an Oscar-winning director for "Slumdog Millionaire," always has an interesting way of presenting his movies with verve and style. His "Steve Jobs" used three different formats to tell its decade-spanning story to great effect. Here, everything looks and feels so pedestrian, with scenes haphazardly edited together and distracting camera angles thrown in for variety. On top of feeling incomplete as an idea, "Yesterday" just looks sloppy.
"Yesterday" can confidently rest on having an original concept, but it becomes even more frustrating when it all goes nowhere. Boyle and company should have just made the romantic comedy they wanted to make. It's never clear what wiping The Beatles away has to do with anything that goes on in the movie. But life goes on.
| Movie title | Yesterday |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2019 |
| MPAA Rating | PG-13 |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | This wannabe rom-com from director Danny Boyle offers a chance to hear The Beatles in a theater but ultimately feels like a soundtrack in search of a movie. |
