Fixing A Whole

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2019)

GRADE: B-
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: Although quite charming, the filmmakers should have known better.
JIM'S REVIEW: Yesterday plays with a very intriguing premise: Living in a parallel universe, a musician discovers a world untouched by the music of The Beatles and begins to pirate their tunes as his own. It's a rags to riches cautionary tale, with the typical greed and fame overtaking the singer on the rise from becoming a Nowhere Man into Something.
Himesh Patel plays Jack Malik, a down-on-his-luck musician ready to give up on his musical career. His best friend and loyal manager, Ellie (Lily James) encourages him to follow his dream as she falls in love with him. One night, during a global blackout, Jack's path leads him directly into a local bus and he awakens to a world without the Beatles.
But the fallacy with this concept is that songs themselves evolved, just as the band did. (Compare the simplistic sing-song melody of She Loves You with any of the complex sounds from Sgt. Peppers or Abbey Road and one can readily see that aspect.) The pop / folk basis is there, but the innovative engineering, catchy harmonies, and musical skills that made the difference between commonplace and art falls short. Also, The Beatles were not just a rock band. They were also trendsetters and led the counter culture youth movement. They were a marketing package hyped and promoted as a new iconic group of talented English laddies with their unique style, mod look, and loads of charisma which influenced a generation. Yesterday only proves that The Beatles were an important product of their times, before computers and social media ever existed.
In fact, the problem with any film that flaunt the "what if" origins is that any moviegoer must work hard not to see the obvious illogical plot-holes in order to enjoy the set-up. Like the Fab Four, certain people and things are fully erased from memory while others exist and remain unaffected and unexplained. (Yes, to the Rolling Stones, no to Coca-Cola...why? Other questions that come to mind: Why doesn't Jack introduce some of his own compositions along with the plagiarized stolen tunes? If others learn about this scam, why not expose the culprit who dishonors the band's true legacy? Why does the odd quality of the songs with their mix of early and later tracks never become an issue?)
The song's new arrangement and solo vocals never come near the greatness of the original musical sources. This failed to convince this reviewer of Jack's instant phenomenon and mass adoration. The screenplay by Richard Curtis never bothers to address these and other unethical issues. It is more concerned with celebrating the Beatles songbook and using their familiar and popular songs to enhance its paper-thin romantic story.
Yesterday gets lost in rom-com territory rather quickly. And to its merit, the love story is charming, if predictable. Mr. Patel is fine in the lead and his voice and screen presence is more than serviceable. But his talent is lackluster compared to John, Paul, George, or Ringo, which does not help the audience buy into Jack's superstardom (or me). The real star quality comes from a delightful Ms. James who takes her underwritten role and makes her character believable and enchanting. Other supporting parts fail to register, except for a scene-stealing turn by Kate McKinnon as a greedy American agent who provides the needed comedy that Joel Fry as Jack's goofy sidekick fails to deliver. Ed Sheeran plays himself and has some amusing moments.
Danny Boyle directs with his customary flair, but even his flashy style cannot hide the film's obvious flaws. Still, Yesterday always entertains, even as it tries to cajole its audience into believing its shaky rom-com narrative. For me, it just didn't all Come Together.