Speaking Today About "Yesterday"

Deciding to go and check out "Yesterday" at my local AMC Theater, I wasn't sure how I was going to take the film. Nonetheless, the trailer intrigued me enough to check it out. After all, the movie was tackling a story based on the music of the legendary Beatles (sorry Ed Sheeran). I left the theater pleasantly surprised with this cinematic experience. If you don't want to read any spoilers, you should stop reading now.

Combining the powerful minds of the director (Danny Boyle) who brought us "Slumdog Millionaire," "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later" and the screenwriter (Richard Curtis) who gave us "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Love Actually" and "Notting Hill," "Yesterday" is based on an original screenplay by Jack Barth and Mackenzie Crook. Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling songwriter that appears to be ready to give up on his dream and just live his life in anonymity and work at a job with no future. Ellie (Lily James), Malik's friend and temporary manager, talks him out of quitting on his dream. Ellie, with a few friends, always shows up at the gigs to cheer Malik on, no matter how horrible the songs are. She kind of has to be there anyway, due to her being his driver.

Riding his bike home from a gig, a mysterious global blackout occurs and Malik gets into an accident with a bus. I wish this part of the movie was explained more, especially because of the events that followed. Missing some teeth, Malik is released from the hospital. While making references to Beatles' songs, Malik is becoming very confused by the reactions of others. Somehow, the Beatles never existed, even though he remembers their songs. Coca Cola and Harry Potter seemed to have disappeared from anyone's memory also.

Malik becomes very famous, with everyone thinking that the songs by the Beatles are originals written by him. Through Ed Sheeran, Malik gets signed by Debra (Kate McKinnon), an American agent. Trying to remember the correct lyrics to some of the songs, Malik visits Liverpool for inspiration, specifically Strawberry Field, Penny Lane and the grave of Eleanor Rigby. Two Beatle fans, who somehow weren't affected like everyone else, follow Malik until they confront him with a toy Yellow Submarine, only to tell him that the world needs to hear these songs and how happy they are that he is giving them life.

Besides being a romantic comedy, this fantasy takes a weird turn when the two Beatle fans that followed him give him a slip of paper with an address on it. This note leads him to a meeting with Jon Lennon (Robert Carlyle), who is living happily in his 70s. I wish that part was true! The scenery was set so that you would know that was Lennon before he was officially introduced. I wish the actor would have sounded and looked more like Lennon. While all this was going on, Malik was realizing that he loved Ellie as much as she loved him It was the talk with Lennon that convinced Malik to come clean about the music and chase Ellie down.

Patel did a wonderful job as Malik, especially being that he sang, played guitar and piano, talents that I am sure helped him get this role. Lily James had great chemistry with Himesh Patel. Joel Fry was a perfect fit for the role of the roadie Rocky. I can't help but wonder that if Paul McCartney didn't finish the song as "Yesterday," if the title of this movie would have been "Scrambled Eggs." You can find out why I said this by researching the Beatles. Besides, I couldn't imagine a world without the influence of their music.