01 August 2019

"Yesterday"

I was pleasantly surprised by the film Yesterdadirected by  Danny Boyle and starring the improbable British-Indian actor Himesh Patel. The premise of the even more improbable plot involves Patel, playing Jack Malik, being struck by a bus just as the world suffers an 18-second electrical blackout. When the lights come back on, the world is changed in three remarkable ways--neither Coca-Cola, Harry Potter, nor the Beatles have ever existed. And only Jack remembers them. (Actually, two other folks, a Russian guy and an English woman also remember the Beatles, the eventual awareness of which strikes fear of exposure into Jack's heart.)

A modest songwriter-performer before the accident, Jack presents songs from the Beatles playbook if they were his own and enjoys--for a while--a meteoric rise to the top of the showbiz world. The shallowness of that world, even when it includes the genuinely decent Ed Sheeran playing himself, suck the life out of Jack. Coupled with his growing sense of guilt for passing off the work of (non-existent?) others as his own and the fear of exposure, Jack breaks down and confesses all at concert at Wembley Stadium.

A silly story but the plot is an effective vehicle for the themes of the price of fame and celebrity but also the importance of personal integrity, with selections from the Beatles playing a supporting role. Jack Malik is a hard-working fellow and dutiful son who realized his dream but only to repent of his success. Jack's repentance leads not only to a public confession but restoration of a relationship with his former manager. Actually, more than restoration. Jack's faltering career had been managed for over a decade by high-school friend Elie Appleton  (played by Lily James). Yet--amazingly for a film made in the 21st century--the two hadn't been sleeping together. His public confession included a plea to Elie and the film ends with them in happy union.

But the songs! Jack's increasing recollection of the Beatles songbook is timed perfectly to culminate in an impassioned "Help!" sung from the rooftop of a sea-side resort. The enormous Beatles playbook provides an appropriate song for virtually every scene. 

Yesterday may not take home lots of awards but it's much more than a summertime diversion.

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