Yesterday

Yesterday

Starring Himesh Patel, Lily James, Kate McKinnon, Ed Sheeran

Directed by Danny Boyle

The Story:
Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling musician who's only audience consists of his childhood friend/manager Ellie (Lily James) and his friends, while everyone else seems oblivious he's even there.  He's about to pack it in for good when a worldwide blackout occurs, and he gets hit by a bus.  When he comes to, he plays the classic Beatles song "Yesterday" for his friends, but they don't seem to know it - or The Beatles.

Jack discovers that all memories of the Fab Four have mysteriously been erased, and it's like the band never existed - except for their songs, which seemingly only Jack remembers.  He writes the songs down and passes them off as his own, and suddenly he's shot to international fame thanks to Ed Sheeran (playing himself), who invites him on tour after seeing an interview.  Soon Jack finds himself immersed in the pitfalls and praise of fame and fortune, and under new manager Debra (Kate McKinnon), becomes the biggest musician in world history - except only he knows its all a lie.

The Synopsis:
There is a lot of different avenues that "Yesterday" could've gone down, but unfortunately it seems that each road was left undiscovered.  Danny Boyle - who's famously directed such stellar films like "28 Days Later" and "Slumdog Millionaire" - tries his hand at producing something that's more subdued and natural, but misses the mark in many ways, but also manages to provide a passable love story that takes center stage, but should've been relegated to the opening act.

The film asks a very important question, and one that itself seemed to not realize the major significance of: what if The Beatles had never existed?  For Jack Malik, he grew up on the influence of the Fab Four, and is shocked to discover after an accident that no one else seems to remember them, and there's no mention of them anywhere (not even Google).  As he's struggling to make it as a musician, he sees this as an opportunity to gleam off the glory of the Beatles and pass off their songs as his own, resulting in him becoming a worldwide superstar.  While this seems to be the main thrust of the film, it seems that the unrequited love story between Jack and his childhood friend Ellie was what Boyle thought was most important, but that subplot should've been the real thing everyone forgot about.

"Yesterday" is the tonal definition of the Butterfly Effect, but it never fully actuates on that issue.  The Beatles weren't just a one-hit-wonder band, but a group that revolutionized and changed the music industry forever, and countless famous musicians today credit them as being the reason they got into the music business in the first place.  Yet here, none of the future effects seem to happen, as Jack finds himself in the music world that's pretty much a carbon copy as it is today - the Beatles never existed, so therefore their influence shouldn't have either, but there's no mention of that.  It's as if they missed a big opportunity to really delve into what it's like for a historical event to never happen, but doesn't actuate on it.  Like if the American Revolution never happened, but everything now is still the same.

Another aspect the film could've capitalized on is the main concept in the first place - a mysterious worldwide blackout leads Jack to suffer an accident, and when he wakes up no one knows of the Beatles.  Why has the Beatles been erased from history?  What caused this to happen?  The film never even tries to find an answer, which leaves it more time for a sappy, unemotional love story that no one really asked for, because we all know how it'll turn out in the end anyway, because the film is riddled with cliches.

The relationship between Jack and Ellie are supposed to be the major selling point, but there is absolutely no chemistry between leads Himesh Patel and Lily James whatsoever.  It's like they believe that a man and woman can never be just friends, so they pursue a romantic story that's completely shoehorned and unnecessary.  They were better off as friends, but of course that can never happen, so they have to force the romance down our (and their) throats.

Speaking of Patel, he's a newcomer so it's easy to forgive him for his performance, but he really doesn't offer any depth to the character.  We don't fully know if Jack is actually being malicious in his intentions to steal the Beatles' songs so he can achieve his own fame, or if he's really doing it to show the world the magic of the Beatles - at least until the end.  He has nightmares that he's found out, and shows disgust and anger at the music industry as a whole, but he comes off almost completely as a big jerk and someone completely unlikable.  Likewise, Lily James just floats through her performance without pushing the envelope, and remains as memorable as wallpaper.

The supporting roles are more flushed out and are actually the bigger saving grace of the film.  Kate McKinnon portrays the seedy, greedy music manager like only she can, and actually gives off a totally believable performance - especially as she gives all her lines deadpan, making fun of Jack's appearance as you'd expect a music manager to do.  Likewise, Ed Sheeran gets to play himself and gives a self-defecating performance as he realizes Jack will be bigger than he is.

The songs are all sung by Patel, and he does a great job at it - when they're important to the story.  When he sings "Yesterday" for his friends, they stare at him in wide-eyed wonder and silence, and it's the best performance of the film.  The rest of the film relegates the songs to background noise, and are so pop-oriented they don't feel as impactful as they actually are - ironically, exactly like you'd hear from someone doing a karaoke performance at your local bar.  In the end, that's what "Yesterday" had me feeling like - I had merely watched the subpar performance over the real deal.

The Summary:
While the film had a lot of promise, "Yesterday" failed to deliver the important questions it subtly asked, and instead relegated itself to another merely passable love story with some catchy tunes thrown in-between.

The Score: B-