Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (7 July 2019)

Himesh Patel channels Russel Brand to great effect as an indecisive singer songwriter who can't tell that his gorgeous manager is crazy about him. Like Charlie Chaplin Patel probably isn't attractive enough to justify the personal magnetism the movie ascribes to him, but who cares? The movie is such fun, with such a great score nobody minds about the plausibility of it.
Like a Jane Austin period pic, Yesterday uses classic visual motifs to move our subconscious along with the plot, like the rooftop concert that was the Beatles last public appearance, the running fans at railway stations and desperate taxi rides.
The English speaking world erased the Beatles from the radio waves after they broke up, replacing them with Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and endless 70's Glam-Rock acts: Yesterday is an act of penitence and restitution by the rock / pop establishment, designed to lay the ghosts of George Harrison and John Lennon to rest before Sir Paul and Ringo join them in that rock and roll heaven.