BUFFALO, N.Y. — For many folks of a certain age, The Beatles provided a major portion of the soundtrack of their lives.
An awareness of the Fab Four is kind of baked in to their psyche. That is not to say that those fans who came later are any less authentic or enthusiastic, but there is something to be said for having grown up with The Beatles providing the musical backdrop to their existence.
So, for those folks (including this reviewer) Yesterday will have a certain resonance, even though its premise, while charming, is a bit daft.
Jack Malik (Patel, TV’s EastEnders and Damned) is a less than successful singer/songwriter who has just about decided to pack in the whole songwriting thing and become a school teacher. This prospect horrifies Ellie (James, Baby Driver, The Exception), his manager.
It should be noted that Ellie is secretly in love with Jack, regardless of his success, or lack thereof. So, on the night that Jack has decided to pack it in, as he’s bicycling home, a mysterious power failure blankets the world for a few seconds, and Jack is hit by a bus, smacks his head on the asphalt, and winds up in the hospital.
But the world Jack wakes up in is subtly different. He discovers that The Beatles never existed. Jack remembers their songs, and most of the lyrics. He doesn’t yet realize that he has awakened in a Beatles-less universe until he plays "Yesterday" for his friends, who all avow that they had never heard this beautiful song before. They believe Jack wrote it.
Once some quick online research demonstrates to Jack that indeed The Beatles have never existed, he begins to sing their songs allowing audiences to believe that he is the author. Fame and fortune quickly ensue, but at a terrible cost.
Director Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) has assembled a very likable cast to play these characters, albeit not all of them are likable. If Patel is doing his own singing, he’s awfully good at it, and, here and there, brings his own, subtle, interpretation to these classics works.
Of course, James is loveable as his silently smitten manager.
Ed Sheeran (Bridget Jones’s Baby, Pop Star) plays himself, so it’s not a thespian stretch for the musician. Of course, Kate McKinnon (The Spy Who Dumped Me, Rough Night) is the best part, but not the biggest part of the entire film. She is utterly believable as a driven, weird record executive. Her relentless over-the-top-ness is the best thing about every scene she’s in.
One perhaps unsung hero of this film is whomever played John Lennon in the film. That scene, in a film filled with touching scenes, is the most evocative one in the entire film.
Another great scene is where Jack ends up in Moscow and plays Back in the USSR for a Russian audience, many of whom would not have been alive back when there was a USSR.
Yesterday is a wonderful, entertaining and touching film. You don’t have to be a Beatles fan to love it. Yesterday sang all the way to 4 out of 5 stars.
Yesterday, is rated PG-13 for suggestive content and language and runs 116 minutes
Now Annabelle Comes Home runs 106 minutes, but so many of those minutes are just wasted on jump scares and scenes so dimly lit as to be nearly unwatchable.
The film does have a cast far better than its premise and plot. Makenna Grace (Gifted, Ready Player One) is a fine young actress, and Vera Farmigia (Captive State, Source Code) and Patrick Wilson (Aquaman, The Founder) are both tremendous. But like many horror films, this is set in a world where lightbulb technology hasn’t advanced past 25 watts and smart people just do stupid things…like leave their psychically sensitive daughter in a house filled with haunted or demonically active objects with just a babysitter.
Yeah, keep that crucifix handy, girls. You're gonna need it.
All the jump scares in the world, and believe me, this film is lousy with ‘em…can’t bump this film past 2 and a half out of 5 boxes of popcorn. If you are a fan of the Annabelle universe, you might like it. It's directed by Gary Dauberman in his first time helming a major film. It’s rated R for horror violence and terror.
Something a bit more sublime is available this weekend on at least one movie screen in Western New York. Director Ron Howard’s Documentary about the late operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti has opened here. This amazing documentary undertaking about the legendary tenor’s life is Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and a war related image. If you are a fan of opera, or a fan of some fine documentary film-making, go see this movie.