Few things are as upsetting as watching an excellent concept for a story not being utilized to its full extent. Yesterday provides some incredible musical performances, strong acting from the whole cast, and massive goldmines ideas and possibilities to explore. Sadly, as much as one can enjoy the good bits, the rest of the movie stumbles in place trying to find its footing. Worse yet, it doesn't even really seem to grasp the possibilities of its own concept, preferring to be a by-the-numbers romantic comedy. Even then, it's still not as well executed as it clearly should have been. Yet, despite that, I cannot deny that I did enjoy parts of it. Like I said, the music and the acting is top notch, it's just a shame that it's not in a better movie.
The story follows a failing singer/songwriter named Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) and his manager/childhood friend Ellie Appleton (Lilly James). Jack has finally reached his breaking point with his musical aspirations since he can't seem to attract an audience to his songs and is on the verge of giving up. That is until one strange night when all the lights in the world go out causing Jack to accidentally get hit by an oncoming Bus. After recovering from his accident, Jack performs his cover of the classic Beatles song Yesterday to some of his friends, only to discover that, somehow, no one remembers The Beatles. Jack has become the only one who remembers the famous British band. Also, he knows all of their songs by heart. After realizing this strange phenomenon, Jack gets an idea. He will pass off The Beatles music as his own. From there, Jack's musical career skyrockets as he is heralded as a genius and the next big thing in the history of music. Will Jack be able to maintain riding this Yellow Submarine, or will the moral dilemma of succeeding off of someone else's work make him sadder than Jude?
This is an excellent concept for a story. It offers the opportunity to explore what it is about The Beatles music that makes it so memorable and universally beloved, it has the potential to comment on the power and necessity of music, and a perfect vehicle for showcasing and commentating on the music industry as a whole. Which the film does none of.
Much to my disappointment, the film decides to cast aside its own mind-blowing premise in favor of a standard romantic comedy. To be fair, the romance aspect is at least decent, mostly due to the competent performances and believable chemistry between the two leads, but I found myself not getting as invested in their relationship as the film wanted me to, when there is a much more exciting idea just hanging around in the background. It was like seeing a rock concert interrupted continuously by the unfunny scenes that were cut out of Love Actually. On top of that, the movie could not even be bothered to have a satisfying twist. I spent the latter half of the film trying to figure out what the twist would be (is he in a coma or is he dead?) and while the ending was still somewhat satisfying, it just didn't feel as fulfilling as I think it should have. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind it when a movie decides to leave some parts of its story up to the interpretation of the audiences, but there are areas of narrative that are more suited to that kind of exicution.
As I said, the musical performances are lovely. I was unable to determine if the songs were indeed performed by Himesh Patel himself or not, but if they were, then Patel has some incredable talent for music. His voice, assuming it was his own, was bright and beautiful. He did a wonderful job bringing these great classics to life. Also, his chemistry with Lilly James was actually pretty nice to watch. Even though I wasn't all that invested in their relationship, I did enjoy watching the two of them perform off each other.
To be fair, the movie does explore some of the moral complexities of finding success with work that is not your own, and it does have some fun with the idea of being the only one who remembers something famous. However, you eventually realize that seems to be the movies only joke, as they repeat it a few different ways all throughout the film. Which, again, they don't go into any juicy details about which would have been fun to explore.
The film was directed by Danny Boyle, late of Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, and 127 Hours. To be honest, I don't think he was the right choice for this film. While Mr. Boyle is a talented director and I have enjoyed most of his past movies, his particular sense of style was just too much for this film. Danny Boyle's style can best be described as what you would get if Kenneth Branagh started directing music videos for Genesis while experiencing a minor contact high. He's not so much hyperactive as he is a little over enthusiastic. Please understand, while I do like aspects of Danny Boyle's style as it works well in other kinds of films, I don't think this movie in particular really called for it. Not to mention how it seems as though Danny Boyle was either not interested in going deeper into the more fascinating aspects of the story, or was simply unable to do so. I hope that Danny Boyle finds another project that is more suited to his taste.
Yesterday is yet another case of a solid idea not reaching its full potential. What could have been a deep and profound exploration of music and love, is just a by-the-numbers romantic comedy that happens to feature surprisingly well-performed covers of Beatles songs. I cannot say this film is necessarily bad, just underwhelming. Still enjoyable in some spots, but nothing that you will remember an hour later. This track is, sadly, best skipped.
Is this movie worth seeing?
Maybe.
Is it worth seeing in theaters?
No.
Why?
It's a paint-by-numbers romantic comedy that can't be bothered to do anything fun with its unique premise. The music and performances are decent but aren't enough to justify full admission price. Wait for video, or better yet, just buy some more Beatles albums.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you all for reading.
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