Review: Yesterday

I recently watched the Richard Curtis / Danny Boyle collaboration, Yesterday. By which I mean the film Yesterday, not that I watched it yesterday. Although I did, also, watch it yesterday, so I guess it all works out.
It’s a pretty likeable film. The lead actor is bumbling and awkwardly charming, the American’s brash, the English sweet, and the love interest pretty but not particularly crucial to the plot, so we’re definitely watching a Richard Curtis film.
The lead actor is not conventionally attractive, the landscape forms part of the cinematography and there’s a dream sequence, so we’re definitely watching a Danny Boyle film.
As a film though, I don’t think it quite works. The premise is fascinating. What would happen if you were the only person that could remember the Beatles? More importantly, what would happen if you were a struggling singer-songwriter, desperate for success, and suddenly had access to a back-catalog of some of the greatest songs ever known? Would you tell the truth?
It should work. There are so many fascinating avenues to explore. The film does try to explore a few of them. What makes a singer successful, for instance. Is it the singer or the song? There’s some wonderful humour to be had from the attempts of the main character, Jack, to play the Beatles classics to a series of empty venues and unappreciative audiences. The original Fab Four were overflowing with energy and charisma. Is it any surprise that an awkward one man band from Suffolk struggles to get the same kind of attention. Add to that the fact that songs like I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You were probably firmly rooted in the innocence of the 60’s and it’s no surprise that Jack struggles to even get his Mum and Dad to sit still long enough to listen to his performance of Let It Be on the living room piano.
Where things start to fall apart, however, is when Curtis tries to throw in all the other aspects of the premise. What happens when you do find success, for instance? Can you live with the lie? What if you’re not the only one who remembers? What if other people know your secret? And how do you protect the legacy when the music industry starts to interfere?
In another film, its possible these themes could have been carefully and intelligently explored. In a Richard Curtis film, however, we’ve still got a humorously moronic sidekick and an obligatory love triangle to throw into the mix, though. Is it any wonder, then, that the film starts to seem unbalanced and unsure of its own direction. What plot thread should we care about now? Do we want Jack to admit to what he’s done? Do we want him to give up the fame and head back to settle down in Suffolk with Ellie? Do we want to know why Ed Sheeran’s in this film? And who on earth are those people waving the submarine around?
If anything sums this film up, its the plotlines that get left behind. Who are Nick and Carol, who seemed like they’d be important at the beginning of this film? What’s the importance of all the other missing pieces of culture, such as Coca Cola and cigarettes, that get mentioned in passing and then immediately forgotten? And what, fundamentally, caused the events of the film in the first place?
As I say, though, its a pretty likeable film. If you have time to waste there are worst ways to waste it. This isn’t a film that will stretch your mind though, except to wonder about the film that could have been.
Perhaps thats the secret. Perhaps there was a better film and we’ve all forgotten it. Perhaps Richard Curtis is trying to recall the scraps of someone else’s genius that only he knows existed in the first place.
Perhaps. But if so, his memory is imperfect.
Watch this film but don’t make time to watch it. Save it for tomorrow. Or watch it Yesterday.