Funny But Ultimately Lacks Something Crucial

Rating: 7/10 (19 July 2019)

If I had a desert island director, it would be Danny Boyle. I can't say the same for Richard Curtis in the writers' department, but that's not to say I don't like many of his films. But on many levels they seem to be an odd fit for each other - Boyle loves to put his audiences through a tough journey to reach any sort of emotional journey. With Richard Curtis, it's all about enjoying a ride we more or less know the route of from the beginning. When Curtis is good, he's very good; when he's bad ... we'll, he writes The Boat That Rocked. The two of them coming them together for Yesterday - a feelgood romantic comedy around the music of The Beatles, which can be remembered by only one person in the world - is enough to make me worry that we'll be landed with a film which is neither Curtis-enough nor Boyle-enough.
That's pretty much what this film ends up being. There are plenty of charming, laugh-out-loud, Curtis moments. There's some of Boyle's style and social commentary. What we don't have any of - and it's crucial to the success of the film - is light-footed whimsy and charm. Both Curtis and Boyle can produce that, but neither of them does so here as if they're both saying 'After you'. There's some fine performances; Ed Sheeran, as himself, is especially funny (I say that as someone who really doesn't like his music); it's to Sheeran's credit that he's willing to satirise himself.
The music is, of course, magnificent; Himesh Patel in the central role carries them off with aplomb - his song renditions are often electrifying. It's just that ultimately this film is neither one thing nor the other.