wonderful fun

Rating: 8/10 (30 June 2019)

Well. How can you not love a movie that ends with Obla di, and Hey Jude. Asks many complex questions that go unanswered and often unexamined and sort of slides into the easy groove of a love story. Reminded me of 'Love, Actually' (same writer) in a lot of way though Yesterday is both more complex and less tight than that earlier film. Suppose no one had ever heard of the Beatles and a marginally decent singer came along and performed their songs. Would they go over? Probably. Would everyone in the modern world think they were the greatest songs ever? Maybe. Though probably not the earliest ones. Does this mean that our culture has totally degraded -- that no music of the last fifty or so years is anywhere near as good as the Beatles? That's a scary question because, obviously, the Beatles, good as they might have been, are certainly not remotely in the same league as, say, Mozart or Bach. The really scary questions about our culture are avoided but that's OK because Patel and James are wonderful. In fact acting all around is pretty good. The story holds together and love conquers all, even greed. The best moment is when Patel is confronted by the only two folks in the alternate universe who remember the Beatles. Rather than confronting Patel for claiming the songs were his own they are grateful to hear a reasonable facsimile of such wonderful.