Even obliterated, the Beatles are the real stars

Rating: 8/10 (4 July 2019)

Himesh Patel (whom we know in the UK from EastEnders) acts and sings his way persuasively through the slightly klutzy central role. Ed Sheeran almost steals the show, playing himself (a natural klutz!) in a charming send-up. Danny Boyle has directed this at a snappy pace, but the most visible contribution is clearly Richard Curtis's script, with his trademark mismatched love-story. Other erasures from human memory caused by the power-cut are fed to us at clumsy intervals - did CocaCola pay for product DIS-placement, I wondered? And the central mystery - what has actually happened to the Beatles? - is neatly addressed. I particularly liked the late appearance of two other people who know that Jack is a musical thief.
The other most visible contribution is the Beatles' back-list - we are constantly reminded just how powerfully their songs are engrained in our consciousness. There may well be Sing-Along screenings of this next year.