Tanya’s Score: Okay-and-a-half*
Rated: PG
Starring: Cinderella, an SNL player and Ed Sheeran
Plot: After a worldwide power outage followed by a bump to the head, a struggling musician (Himesh Patel) wakes up to a world where the musical group The Beatles never existed.
Tanya’s Verdict: What a disappointment. There was so much going for this one – directed by Danny Boyle as well as a quirky and interesting premise – yet it all deflated for me after about 20 minutes in. That’s when I realized this movie – with its low-key pacing and quirky premise turned short-lived gimmick – just wasn’t going to live up to my lofty expectations.
There’s still good in this film though – the musical scenes are interesting. I thought Patel’s voice was nice and brought a fresh take to the Beatles classics. And I did appreciate the interesting twist Yesterday provides concerning the idea of success and what it really means.
Yesterday reminded me a lot of the movies Once (2007) – a great film – and Downsizing – a not bad movie (2017). It combined the musical and romantic elements of one and the life learning moments of the other.
Still, there are a lot of unanswered, head-scratching questions arising from this movie -though nothing that couldn’t have been forgiven had the film lived up to its full potential.
Four score descriptions: Sh**; Okay; Good; Great