INTRODUCTION
Yesterday had to carry that weight so many directors have strayed away from: doing The Beatles justice on the big screen.
It’s premise sounded intriguing: The world forgets of the fab four’s existence and only one man who remembers can bring back their music to a modern world; It’s quaint but it’s got the room to be epic. It’s a beautifully structured backdrop for dozens of different stories and an expansive platform for which writers can explore diverging narratives and thought provoking themes.
And that’s the main reason why it's so disappointing that what we got was just another melodramatic romance.
There was possibility. There was potential. The reign to bring The Beatles to a new generation? An amazing homage to fab four? A juxtaposition of the music today and back then? Yesterday tried to do all these things but the lack of creative direction and effortful execution squandered all those chances and it’s a damn shame.
Because if Yesterday’s Storytelling just had a little more thought and heart from the Beatles bountiful creative source material, it could have been a little more than a forgettable romance with some Beatles music.
VISUALS
Yesterday looks good. It does. It’s not a cinematic masterpiece but its shots are calculated and its cuts are deliberate. It’s not sloppy and it seems there was more than just rough guidelines on how things should look.
There’s nothing to scream and shout about and I’m glad I didn’t really notice much about it. There was a sense that they played it too safe and should have delved more into the psychedelic side of mid 60s Beatles or even just gone for a little more risk with how it was shot, but this was more of a complaint in relation to the storytelling.
7/10 - Playing it safe. Not much to complain, not much to praise.
SOUND
Well I mean, it is The Beatles. The songs are done well and with a little twist of Jack Malik’s style tinted in, it’s reminiscent but different enough to be fresh on the ears. For a movie about Music, this Movie nails the sound design and audio balancing perfectly.
7/10 - Well done, but nothing spectacular.
STORY
The crux of the Movie; Story. Don’t market a movie about The Beatles’ Music, if the whole story is just going to beat around them. By the time the last act of the Movie was starting, there was a nagging feeling that I just couldn’t shake; what does this have to do with The Beatles’ disappearing?
For by the time the climax of the movie hit, it felt Yesterday’s script was originally just one about a successful musician leaving home and his woman, with The Beatles hammered in after. There was very little effort to tie together each plot lines. And as the credits roll, it leaves the audience wondering why The Beatles disappearing even mattered at all, especially if the main message of the movie had nothing to do with it.
There was no creative ability done to work The Beatles into this movie’s story other than trickling in some of their songs when they needed to. It’s a sad excuse for a Movie that’s named after one of their greats.
And if we do ignore the elephant in the room, it’s not as if the romance of the movie was that good to begin with. It’s cliche and it’s predictable. Guy leaves to be successful. Man gets sad for leaving girl. Guy gives up success for girl. We’ve seen it before and frankly it’s not as if this is a real tear jerker or done with such brilliance that it needs commendations.
Yesterday also does a horrendous job at tying up loose ends to conclude with a satisfying story. Plot lines are wrapped up in an unbelievable manner and are rushed at the last minute making it seem like an afterthought. If there is one thing a movie should always nail, it's the ending because that's what the audience will leave with. And if one thing feels out of place, guaranteed they will feel it.
However these problems are not glaring, and that is mainly due to the movie’s pacing which is a strong point. As much as the story beats are predictable and lackluster, the movie keeps flowing and rarely does a moment go on for too long or go in a direction that makes it any less enjoyable.
This is also true for the writing. The dialogue despite being contrived in some places—especially Lily James’ line about waking up and loving her which is seemingly in every trailer—most other points it feels natural and fitting for the mood and tone of the scene. Never did I ever really feel a sense of the characters speaking for the writer or for the message. A mention should go to a certain scene with an older man and woman meeting our lead Jack Malik backstage. It felt natural and I couldn’t help but smile while watching it.
4.5/10 - Wasted potential with a lack of creativity. Contrived romance. Decent Writing and Pacing saved it from worse.
ACTING & CHARACTERS
The characters and actors complimented each other perfectly. Characters had flavour and personality and a depth that was hinted at in all the right times. The actors did a fantastic job at playing to the roles well and all seemed believable. Special mention should go to Joel Fry who plays Rocky the comedic relief who stood out and Ed Sheeran who played a significantly characterised and entertaining version of himself.
Both leads, Himesh Patel and Lily James did well in their characters and had a satisfying amount of chemistry which pulled up the poorly designed story. Their characters fit the roles of the story and the conflicts they faced felt real and relatable.
But unfortunately there was one character that seemed to make a boring love story even worse. Gavin. The actor himself did well, but his role in the story seemingly slipped passed the writers until they remembered at the last minute they put him into a position they couldn’t get him out of and just wrote in the most unbelievable and laughably stupid scene of the whole movie to fix it. Eyes rolled. At that point it seemed the writers cared more about finishing the script than doing it properly.
7/10 - Character fit the story being told and actors did a good job with the material with some highlights.
VERDICT
It really should have been better. A movie like this is banking on people watching based on its premise and title. And since there is such a lack of creative and engaging delivery on that front, it’s really just a trojan horse for a boring romance between characters that are at the bare minimum written and acted well. The music is good and the movie looks like it was shot with a decent amount of passion behind the camera. But without a story that can live up to what it markets itself as, there is really no point in marking this down as a must watch.
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