Disappointing

Rating: 3/10 (8 June 2020)

I have deep admiration for Danny Boyle and usually enjoy his films, but I was very surprised that he took on this project, due to a story and script that weren't particularly strong. It's not a poorly made film, but it seems to really struggle against the script. The idea is great. The story which extends from that idea is severely lacking. Aside from the fact that it treads well-worn rom-com territory and perpetuates every schmaltzy rom-com false cliche (including the one where someone suddenly realizes that their platonic friend for 20 years may just be "the one" after all, if they can only wake up and realize it), the script doesn't make much sense. There's no real spoilers in this movie to give away, but I'll be vague just be safe. The premise: There's a 27-year old failing British musician who's reached a point where he realizes his music career likely isn't going to go anywhere, so he'll return to teaching. Then, one night, there's a worldwide blackout, which lasts a few seconds, and when it's over, he's the only one who remembers who The Beatles were (and all their songs). There's no record of them online and no one remembers them (oddly, the same goes for Coca-Cola, cigarettes, and the band Oasis). There's some mildly amusing over-the-top characters who come into story after this, almost all of them are characters who say and do things that no real person on the planet would actually ever say or do, and a lot of bad advice given from the female romantic interest (seemingly presented in the film as good advice) where I can only assume most audience members would be yelling, "Please don't listen to her. She's making no sense." The most troubling thing about the ending is that the premise is never explained. Even with all the rom-com cliches, it may have been fun to realize precisely *why* no one was able to remember these few major aspects of pop-culture history. Nope. And yet, despite the lack of a logical--or even wacky--explanation of the premise, it includes a scene near the end, at a beach house, that only served to confuse me more; it raises more questions than it answered because the scene doesn't really make any sense. The best thing about the film is the premise (which could've gone in so many more interesting places), the music (obviously), and the fact that even when Danny Boyle is working with a somewhat weak script, he still knows how to make a fairly entertaining movie. It's just unfortunate that it doesn't have a good enough story for most people to want to watch for 90 minutes, even when it's filled with The Beatles music.