Just How Terrible Is the 2019 Film Yesterday?
Two nights ago, I decided to sit down and watch the critically-divisive 2019 film Yesterday. Given the backlash that some critics unleashed, I honestly was afraid to watch it. The Beatles were at one point a childhood obsession of mine; I listened to every song, perused the internet for fun facts and tidbits, and watched all of their movies, even the panned TV film Magical Mystery Tour. My curiosity got the best of me, and so I finally sat down and watched Yesterday start to finish. Yesterday starts out genuinely enough with hopeful superstar musician Jack Malik playing at small venues although dismayed by his prospects. What happened from that minute until the 116th minute only got worse and worse…and worse (Warning: Spoilers).
I nearly turned off my television about 20 minutes into the movie not because of disdain but rather disinterest; it was eternity waiting for that bus to hit him. Pre-collision, I honestly don’t understand how Jack and his friends had deluded themselves into thinking his original songwriting would ever nab an agent’s attention. “The Summer Song”? Really? Their cluelessness shouldn’t be surprising given that Jack and Ellie were both absolutely oblivious when it came to a romantic relationship until finally the bus strikes him down during a global blackout which leaves him as the apparent sole human being aware of the Beatles because of course it does. Instead of having a miraculous accident relate in any way to the Beatles, it would make sense not to make use of anything that has anything to do with the Fab Four during Jack’s epiphany.
About 1 hour in is where the movie really nosedives. Jack and Ellie begin to fall out understandably due to Jack’s rising stardom. But somehow Ellie chooses not to show support, instead threatening Jack with abandoning him unless he abides by her demands. And when he chooses his career, Ellie issues the same ultimatum again, clearly with no intention of actually leaving. If her bullying wasn’t enough, Jack must also deal with the senseless tactics of marketing “experts”, who thought it best to turn the Beatles’ groundbreaking material into a narcissistic charade and to churn out a compilation album with zero concept or structure behind it. And what a great idea it was to turn Beatle brilliance into radio-friendly mainstream singles; there is no way to ever achieve critical acclaim without using a nauseatingly saccharine song title “Hey Dude” for perhaps the Beatles’ most revered song.
And then we have Ed Sheeran. Ed consistently makes it known how his music truly pales to that of the Beatles, a truth I’m glad he understands. Yet somehow he, or more likely his promoters, manages to slip in Ed wherever possible despite the fact that this film is made, and this is true, as an ode to the Beatles and not him. The self-promotion is so painfully obvious that I couldn’t help but smile when he lost the “freestyle” writing competition, at least up until the point he admits defeat and self-flagellates as if he is begging for someone to say he makes good music too.
My biggest complaint has to be about how the producers made use of Beatles music. Picking their most popular hits, they largely ignore some of their best work, resulting in ZERO vocal performances from Sgt. Pepper. Despite being a self-proclaimed Beatles fanatic, Jack lacks any comprehension that the songs alone aren’t enough to explain the Beatles’ greatness. The Fab Four’s group dynamic and chemistry, veering back and forth from brotherly love to toxicity, is lost by handing the material to one (1) singer-songwriter, reducing George Martin’s complex production down to a single guitar or the occasional piano, nor does Jack understand that the Beatles’ albums are great for their cohesive themes. Maybe it doesn’t make sense to have “Eleanor Rigby” on the same album as “In My Life”?
As the movie starts to wrap up, Jack ultimately admits that he did not write his songs. And what leads him to this decision? An absolutely pointless, useless, senseless encounter with a still-alive John Lennon in a scene that honestly deserves its own blog post, not to mention the two random elderly persons who break into his dressing room and tell him to keep up the good work. Because of this, he finally makes his cringeworthy confession backgrounded with Ellie’s too-close-for-comfort appearance in her third effort to reel Jack back in. The two reconcile, and Ellie breaks up with her brief flame Gavin who like all men is just so ecstatic to get dumped for another guy. Jack and Ellie then have sex to a stunningly romantic Beatles song, except the producers didn’t play Beatles music during the climax of their relationship. Instead, they have the genius idea to weasel Ed Sheeran back into the mix and play his music in the midst of the most film’s most passionate moment. In the afterward, Jack and Ellie marry and have kids, because I guess showing the kids serves some relevant purpose, as the credits of Yesterday begin to roll to the tune of not the film’s namesake but “Hey Jude”.
I didn’t care much for the acting but the decisions were so poor that Yesterday only serves as a mockery of the Beatles’ greatness. Maybe the casual fan can overlook these flaws, but for someone who at one point had their life revolve around the Beatles, it’s head-bashingly appalling to watch. In all honesty, I actually laughed more with each successive bonehead move; it’s funny to me just how stupid people can be when praising the Beatles. As for one example, would it be worth noting that having 27-year-old Jack sing “She was just 17, yeah you know what I mean” isn’t the wisest decision? To put it briefly, Yesterday is a pandering, childish attempt at Beatles homage. In trying to gush out their supposedly intense Beatlephilia, director Danny Boyle and writer Richard Curtis effectively reveal that their familiarity with the Beatles catalogue is essentially limited only to knowing and owning a single Beatles album, the 2000 compilation album 1, as they flunk out with this abomination of a film that only worsens as it progresses.