ReelBob: ‘Yesterday’ ★★★
By Bob Bloom
A delightful and imaginative premise that is sustained through the finale will make you believe in “Yesterday.”
The plot is simple: An unsuccessful musician injured in an accident awakens to discover that no one has ever heard of The Beatles — the band never existed — and that he is the only person who remembers their songs.
The Fab Four’s music merely serves as a backdrop to a story that — comically — examines the traps — and trappings — of celebrity.
Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) has been writing songs and singing since he was a teenager. His most ardent supporter and fan is his friend, Ellie (Lily James), who was a schoolmate and his self-appointed manager.
From the outset, you know that Ellie loves Jack, but he is oblivious and thinks of their relationship as brother and sister.
Still, Ellie continually plugs away getting Jack gigs anywhere she can in and around their tiny English seaside town.
At a coming-home celebration after his recovery, Jack’s friends give him a new guitar — his old one was destroyed in the accident — and, when asked to play, he performs “Yesterday.”
His friends are visibly shaken; they tell him it is one of the most beautiful songs they have ever heard and asked when he wrote it.
When he tells them that it was sung by the Beatles, they look at him blankly, claiming to have never heard of the Beatles.
This goes on for a while, until Jack googles the Beatles and discovers no mention of them.
Soon, Jack is performing as many Beatles songs as he can remember, and he becomes an Internet sensation as a local producer records his renditions and puts them online.
This leads Jack to become Ed Sheeran’s opening act and then propels him to a career of his own.
“Yesterday” succeeds because the movie — cowritten by Richard Curtis (“Love Actually,” “Notting Hill” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral”) and directed by Oscar-winner Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Trainspotting” and “127 Hours”) — defies expectations.
The movie does not travel the path of least resistance. It does not offer easy or cliched resolutions.
A major factor for “Yesterday’s” appeal rests on the performance of Patel. He basks in his newfound fame, but, privately, he feels like a fraud and uncomfortable in his own skin.
Patel’s Jack is more interested in sharing the music of the Beatles with the world than using it to gain riches.
The dark side of superstardom is personified in the performance of Kate McKinnon as Debra, Jack’s new, big-time manager who is cynical, greedy and sees her new client as a commodity rather than an artist.
She basically is the major counterbalance to the idealism of Jack and the staunch optimism of Ellie.
“Yesterday” is a romantic fairy tale; at times, it may be too sweet for its own good, but that sunny outlook is refreshing.
Curtis and Boyle are not reproachful of riches and fame; the moral of their story is that for a fulfilling life — all you need is love.
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
YESTERDAY
3 stars out of 4
(PG-13), language, suggestive content