Yesterday
Starring: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Ed Sheeran
Production Company: Etalon Film, Working Title Films
Release Date: June 28, 2019
YouTube Trailer:
Imagine there were no Beatles.
Imagine no Hell below us.
Wait. I’m already off-track.
Imagine a world without the music of the Beatles (There. Much better.). Imagine not humming I Saw Her Standing There or Let It Be or Hey Jude or I Am The Walrus?
A world without Beatles music would have been a pretty dull place and that, among other things, is the premise of the new movie, Yesterday. The Danny Boyle directed movie is about a struggling, unsuccessful (I repeat myself) musician/songwriter (Himesh Patel) who, after a terrible run-in with a bus, comes out of the accident to learn that he’s the only person (actually, there are two others but I don’t want to spoil the film) who has any knowledge and memory of the Fab Four (and Coca-Cola and cigarettes. No. Really). The result is that he introduces the world to Beatles songs that the planet thinks he wrote.
I went into the theater thinking that I knew how the movie would progress and how it would end (hint: I’m thinking a Hallmark kind of ending). And, in a very small way I was correct. However, Yesterday is more. So much more.
In fact, me thinks that the movie is quite symbolic of mankind’s view of love, sacrifice, success, and the nature of the music business. In my humble opinion, Kate McKinnon’s character personifies the soul-sucking, soul-crushing, dream-stealing nature of what the music BUSINESS (not music itself) has been, is, and likely will always be. How, you ask? See the movie.
This is a movie that I left knowing that I was going to need to watch several more times because I didn’t catch the whole symbolism thing until mid-way through it. That’s when I wished I had a rewind button to push.
In a word, Yesterday is nothing short of brilliant. A brilliant concept. A brilliant script. A brilliant cast. A brilliant producer. A brilliant crew. A brilliant soundtrack (of course). Just freakin’ brilliant.
Did I mention that the movie is brilliant?
I’ll go as far as to say that this is one of my all-time favorite movies (and I’m such a chick flick fan). I can’t wait for the DVD version to come out so that I can own it.
Obviously, I think you should see Yesterday today. Be prepared to want to see it more than once.
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