The best part of "Yesterday" are the Beatles's song catalogue, though it isn't a 'jukebox musical', and the leading man, Himesh Patel, does a good job of singing them. The main problem with the movie is the screenplay by Richard Curtis. It starts off with the interesting premise of Jack Malik (Patel), who gets knocked out by a combination of a bus hitting him and a worldwide blackout, waking up missing a few teeth but, obviously, nothing life threatening. It seems he is the only person in the world who has heard of the Beatles and their music or Coca Cola but the screenwriter sort of drops the why of this or what the consequences would be except a man can become rich by claiming to have written all of the Beatles's songs, playing a guitar and singing them without anyone questioning him from his friends to his family to the music company that signs him.
One of the first lessons a movie fan learns is that you have to check logic at the movie entrance but there are too many illogical things in this film to ignore them plus a lot takes away your enjoyment of the film. There is very little chemistry between Himesh Patel and his leading lady Lily James though the love story is a given and in spite of trouble with accents and sound that story line is easy enough to follow. In a switch it is the male who goes through a makeover.
Both Patel and James are fine in their roles while Kate McKinnon is handed the role (for the old-timers reading this think Eve Arden) of the smart cracking music agent played with each utterance being too shrill. I am not familiar with Joel Fry and his role is a little--heck, a lot--inexplainable, but he is a funny guy. Neither am I familiar with Ed Sheeran and looked him up on Wikipedia being surprised to learn how successful the man is in England. There is a 'mystery' regarding a couple, unknown to each other, and a yellow submarine. There is also a surprise cameo near the end that explains nothing and falls flat.
Danny Boyle, successful director and producer of many films including "Slumdog Millionaire" and this film, has to take some of the fault for the screenplay and, consequently, this movie.
"Yesterday" is a disappointing film that doesn't tackle the major premise but does show off the talent of Himesh Patel.
synopsis
In Yesterday, Himesh Patel is Jack Malik, a struggling singer-songwriter whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the support and devotion of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James). When Jack wakes up after a freak accident to discover that The Beatles have never existed ... and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed.
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The best part of "Yesterday" are the Beatles's song catalogue, though it isn't a 'jukebox musical', and the leading man, Himesh Patel, does a good job of singing them. The main problem with the movie is the screenplay by Richard Curtis. It starts off with the interesting premise of Jack Malik (Patel), who gets knocked out by a combination of a bus hitting him and a worldwide blackout, waking up missing a few teeth but, obviously, nothing life threatening. It seems he is the only person in the world who has heard of the Beatles and their music or Coca Cola but the screenwriter sort of drops the why of this or what the consequences would be except a man can become rich by claiming to have written all of the Beatles's songs, playing a guitar and singing them without anyone questioning him from his friends to his family to the music company that signs him.
One of the first lessons a movie fan learns is that you have to check logic at the movie entrance but there are too many illogical things in this film to ignore them plus a lot takes away your enjoyment of the film. There is very little chemistry between Himesh Patel and his leading lady Lily James though the love story is a given and in spite of trouble with accents and sound that story line is easy enough to follow. In a switch it is the male who goes through a makeover.
Both Patel and James are fine in their roles while Kate McKinnon is handed the role (for the old-timers reading this think Eve Arden) of the smart cracking music agent played with each utterance being too shrill. I am not familiar with Joel Fry and his role is a little--heck, a lot--inexplainable, but he is a funny guy. Neither am I familiar with Ed Sheeran and looked him up on Wikipedia being surprised to learn how successful the man is in England. There is a 'mystery' regarding a couple, unknown to each other, and a yellow submarine. There is also a surprise cameo near the end that explains nothing and falls flat.
Danny Boyle, successful director and producer of many films including "Slumdog Millionaire" and this film, has to take some of the fault for the screenplay and, consequently, this movie.
"Yesterday" is a disappointing film that doesn't tackle the major premise but does show off the talent of Himesh Patel.
synopsis
In Yesterday, Himesh Patel is Jack Malik, a struggling singer-songwriter whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the support and devotion of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James). When Jack wakes up after a freak accident to discover that The Beatles have never existed ... and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed.
