Yesterday (2019) Movie Review

Director: Danny Boyle
Writers: Jack Barth (story by), Richard Curtis (screenplay)
Stars: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Sophia Di Martino

Moviie Couple here! We went to see Yesterday this weekend!  Remember we are just a married couple that loves movies!  We’re here to tell you if we liked it.  Film experts we are not!  Just a quick reminder of our rating system. Mrs. Moviie Couple and I, rate films on whether they are worth the cash spent on a night out. We use a 1-6 Dollar Bill system.  1-2 Bills equal a waste of both our time and money!  3-4 Bills equal Meh to Pretty Good, money well spent!  5-6 Bills equal Wow!  Well worth the price of dinner, movie and sitter!  Please take our money again!

Yesterday tells the tale of an event that turns off  power all over the planet for a matter of seconds.  When the power is restored, our hero Jack Malick is struck by a bus.  Upon recovering, Jack discovers that he is the only one in the world that remembers the Beatles! That’s right, no one has a clue who the Fab Four are and have never heard even a note of their famous songs. What will he do with this knowledge?  On the precipice of giving up his fledgling music career, could this be the miracle his manager and childhood friend had told him may happen?  Even if it is a miracle, should he take advantage? Is it right?  Is it wrong? These are the questions presented to us all in this story. Directed by Danny Boyle of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire fame and starring Himesh Patel as Jack and Lily James as his manager and lifelong girl pal Ellie. Joining our stars Across this Universe is Joel Fry as comedy relief roadie Rocky, Kate McKinnon of SNL fame as musical mogul Debra Hammer and Ed Sheeran as well …Ed Sheeran!

Will Jack find the same success as John, Paul, George and Ringo?  Would that type of possible success drive Jack and Ellie closer or further apart?  Will he be found out?  Does anyone somewhere remember the Beatles as well?

So should we just Let This film Be?  Or should we join our couple down the Long and Winding Road of movie bliss?  Well, come join Mr. and Mrs Moviie Couple as we Come Together (Ok that was the last one I promise) and review this Fantasy/Romantic/Comedy!

So here we go!

Mr. Moviie Couple: This movie wasn’t half bad, but it was just slightly over half good.  The premise of waking up and being the only one that knows the Beatles is a good one. Not being a singer, it wouldn’t do me much good.  I guess I could become a songwriter, but I digress. It’s an interesting concept that puts the audience in Jack’s shoes asking us all what would we do?  The acting was spot on and the direction of Boyle was flawless. Patel and James are particularly good in this. The entire film rests on us believing them as a pair of lifelong pals with feelings for one another and if we don’t buy that, the entire movie is a non starter. Luckily Patel and James are perfect in these roles. James especially! She truly embodied someone so in love with Jack that she would never give up on him no matter what.  Fry and McKinnon do their best to bring some humour into the proceedings, but fail more often then they succeed.  Ed Sheeran, surprisingly does a pretty good Ed Sheeran and his “Hey Dude” scene (it’s not a spoiler if you’ve seen it in the trailer) was great as were most of his scenes.  Bravo, dude.

The acting is not the issue with this film, the issue to me was the writing.  It felt to me like the writers started with this great idea, this great “What IF” of a concept and it works well for about two thirds of the way.  After that, it felt like they had written themselves in a corner and had no real ending.  We never spoil here at Moviie Couple so I can’t say why, but the ending felt rushed and well…not finished.  As if they needed to polish the ending a bit more before the actual filming.  It even had a bit of the Lord Of The Rings end to it, where I was like, OK, that was funny, that’s a good place to wrap this up, but NO, here comes one more end scene to keep us singing just a bit longer.  No complaints on the soundtrack, we all love the Beatles songs, but the film dragged a bit getting to a climax that we all knew we were heading for anyway.

While not a bad film, it wasn’t a particular great one either.  The music was great, the plot line was intriguing, but it fell flat on its conclusion and left a lot of questions on the table afterward. So I found Yesterday to be somewhere between Meh and Pretty Good, so I’ll go with 3.5 Bills.  Not terrible, but without the really great performances by Patel and James, this would have been one forgettable time at the summer movies.

Mrs. Moviie Couple:  She wasn’t enamoured with this film.  She found it to be a sweet, simple, family friendly story of encouragement, friendship, honesty and second chances.  She found it to be a bit slow and far longer than she expected it to be.  She told me to say she was fidgeting in her recliner seat. Never a good sign from Mrs. Moviie Couple. Fidgeting is nearly always a sign of boredom. She felt both lead actors Patel and James were true and believable in their respective parts. Their entire relationship seemed natural and real. Two childhood friends experiencing a blossoming love throughout their life together. She found the ending a bit weak and she herself thought of at least three different ways this story could have ended that were better than the filmed version. She did feel it was a great musical tribute to the songs of the Beatles and just how poetic and amazing they are. She was impressed to learn that Patel himself did actually sing the songs himself.  Overall, the film was too slow and would better be served at home on a streaming service or as a rental rather than as a night out.  She gives Yesterday 3 Bills, Meh!

On the way home, We talked about the poor ending, the great performances by the leads and how we both thought there was a better movie somewhere in the meeting room floor.  It wasn’t the worst, but if the ending wasn’t so Helter Skelter (I had to, sorry) it would have been better.  I give it 3.5 Bills, not bad, but not great.  The Mrs. gives it 3 Bills!  She loved the themes throughout, but not the execution.  So we average it out to 3 Bills! MEH!

So until next time, remember all you need is love…and a great ending!  Our Twitter poll revealed our next review and Yes, the Mrs. will be joining me to review Spiderman: Far From Home!  But only because you demanded it on our poll!  She is not very happy about it.  Mr. & Mrs. Moviie Couple out!

Follow @MoviieMr