Yesterday (2019) Movie Review

YESTERDAY (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

In this day of age where people are continually grasping at straws to come up with the next big idea, often an already established concept can be altered and become a success among casual movie goers. Award winning director Danny Boyle understood this in spades when creating Yesterday, the simple premise of creating a world where only one man knows that legendary band The Beatles ever existed. Despite the fact that in this universe, the band never formed in the first place. Add a love story between two friends and we have potentially 2019's biggest sleeper hit. 

Struggling musician Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) and her best friend and manager Ellie Appleton (Lily James) try to keep Jack's career alive as his career enters a downward spiral. However after getting struck by an oncoming bus moments following a worldwide blackout, Jack wakes up in the hospital and begins to suspect things are not what they used to be. This escalates much further as a conversation with his friends reveals that no one knows the existence of The Beatles and that none of their songs ever came to be. Now faced with a choice, Jack must question the morality of plagiarising songs that never existed all the while dealing with an underlining relationship with Ellie. A unique concept to say the least and is easily one of the film's biggest strengths and the reason many viewers came to watch. What would a world without such an influential group be like? Safe to say the idea is handled very well and is expanded upon by The Beatles not being the only thing not to exist anymore as shown through small gags. 

No matter how enthralling a concept is, the idea alone cannot carry a movie unless aided by the script and supporting cast. Himesh Patel plays Jack Malik who did a decent enough job with his role but felt more like a host for the audience to put their shoes in. The real standout in this film was Lily James as Ellie who stole the whole show with a heartfelt and genuine performance. This was no surprise for me as James has been one of my favourite actresses through her performances in Baby Driver (2017) and now Yesterday. Each actor and actress did a good or even great job and given the script they were faced with, its easy to see how. Richard Curtis, the screenplay writer who also did Love Actually and Four Weddings And A Funeral, managed to blend the comedy and romance elements from each respective film near perfectly which resulted in a film that felt like it never had to rely on the already unique and compelling scenario. Also Ed Sheeran is in this film and he..is an actor and actually does a much better job than anticipated. 

Overall Yesterday is exactly what I hoped for and more. Although far from a perfect movie, the movie succeeded in just about every aspect which in the end added up to one of the most heartfelt and charming films to come out in a long time. Even if you aren't the biggest fan of The Beatles, their music is just a plot device to keep the story rolling and interesting and if you are a fan, will add to the experience and enjoyment you will get from Yesterday.

OVERALL

7 / 10