Yesterday (2019)
“This is my last gig. If it hasn’t happened by now, it’ll take a miracle.” – Jack.
Yesterday (2019)
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Written by: Richard Curtis (screenplay), Jack Barth (story by)
Starring: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Joel Fry, Kate McKinnon
The powerhouse combination of director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting, 127 Hours) and screenwriter Richard Curtis (Notting Hill, Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral) team up to bring you this bundle of fun, with one of the more creative plots I’ve seen in a while.
Yesterday focuses on struggling British musician Jack Malik (Patel), who bounces from one bad gig to another before finally telling his manager and best friend Ellie (James) that it’s time for him to pack it up. He has given up on his dream of being a famous musician and will go back to being a school music teacher. However, after being involved in a car crash that same night, Jack wakes up in an alternate universe where The Beatles never existed and nobody remembers any of their songs. Realising that this is his big chance, Jack reignites his dream and re-releases The Beatles’ songs as his own – chasing stardom once again.
Amongst a plethora of movies trying to explore the concept of alternate realities, time travel, and what is the ‘real’ universe, Yesterday stands out for its simplicity. The above summary is basically the first ten minutes of the movie, with nobody getting hung up on why this alternate reality came to be, and Jack accepting it and moving on quickly. Consequently, the pacing is great, with Curtis setting up the plot and then jumping straight into the meat of the movie.
The simplicity is great, but above all it’s just a fun concept for a movie. Jack has essentially been handed Biff’s sports almanac in Back to The Future and given an opportunity to do whatever he wants. It’s the equivalent of going back in time and frontrunning the design of revolutionary ideas – inventing the iPhone, Coca-Cola, hygiene masks before COVID, whatever other successful product you can think of. Jack gets the opportunity to take credit for The Beatles songs, and must then navigate the success, failure, and guilt that comes along with it.
And now it’s time to talk about the main draw of the film, and why it worked so well – Himesh Patel. When I watched this back in 2019 it was the first time I’d seen Patel. And no offense to his 566 episodes on british soap EastEnders, but this was his big break, with Yesterday followed by credits in both Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and Adam McKay’s upcoming Netflix blockbuster Don’t Look Up. Working with Boyle, Nolan and McKay on your first three films is bonkers, but after an impressive performance in this it’s not surprising. Patel plays the unassuming, dry-humoured everyman effortlessly, with Curtis’ script giving him the freedom to show other more serious parts of his range. He’s also (clearly) a talented musician, playing all instruments and singing in the film. This was probably one of the biggest masterstrokes of the film – casting an unknown actor as the unknown musician - with Patel’s career ironically taking off like Jack’s in the movie.
Fun fact about his casting: When he auditioned, Patel didn’t know what the role was. Instead of reading lines, he was told to perform a Coldplay song of his choice on acoustic guitar. Patel chose ‘We Never Change’, and his understated performance impressed the panel enough to cast him in the role. Admittedly rusty on both guitar and piano prior to being cast, Patel learnt the entire Beatles back catalogue in preparation for the shoot.
The rest of the cast is impressive, with the now-tabloid-darling Lily James playing the bubbly best friend perfectly, a quirky and funny performance by Joel Fry as Rocky the roadie, Kate McKinnon is her typical over-the-top self playing a caricature of the money-hungry manager, and Ed Sheeran is great as…himself. Now, the Ed Sheeran cameo needs a bit more unpacking, as he’s been in a few things now as an actor, and still can’t act. However, I think that’s the point – he plays a parody of himself, suggesting that Hey Jude be renamed ‘Hey Dude’ and having one of his own songs as his ringtone. It’s pretty funny, and Curtis uses him as a catalyst for Jack’s rise to stardom that the viewers can connect with.
Unsurprisingly, the soundtrack is great, as it’s a bunch of Beatles classics either performed by Jack in concert or as backing tracks over montages. Note that these aren’t the original songs, and are instead covers by Patel. Music is clearly a subjective thing, so be your own judge, but for someone trying to cover arguably the greatest band of all time I think Patel sounds brilliant. They sound slightly different from the originals, but will still have you singing and bopping along throughout the film.
Now, there are two things in the movie that detract from the rest of the fun. The first is the romance between Ellie and Jack, as Curtis tries to explore the age-old question “what would happen if you tried to start a relationship with your lifelong best friend while trying to become a global superstar?” To be fair it’s an adorable relationship, and Curtis (as always) finds a way to make the characters have completely unrealistic charming and witty and funny conversations that would never work in real life, but unfortunately there isn’t much romantic chemistry between James and Patel. You believe that they’re best friends, and you care about both Jack and Ellie individually, but it’s difficult to believe they would ever be more than this. For a ‘romance’, this is a bit disappointing. After more research, it seems like the original script, and even the original cut of the film, had a love triangle with another character (played by Ana De Armas!), which took up an additional 25% of the script. This was all completely cut – which in retrospect seems like a shame. Show us the extended cut Boyle!
The second problem is the end of the movie. I won’t reveal exactly what happens, but Jack makes a big admission, and, well…it doesn’t really make any sense – there is no clear motive for what he ends up doing, and there are clearly better alternatives. Not to mention that he would also end up being sued for astronomical amounts of money and have his life ruined for what he does. You’ll have to watch to see what I mean by that, but it’s not a fantastic ending.
However, despite these two gripes, Yesterday is incredibly entertaining, good for a sing-along, and gives you an easy to watch movie without any complex themes. Highly recommend.
Rating: 7/10