MORAL OF THE MOVIE

You should always do what you can to chase your dreams but you shouldn’t compromise your ideals in order to do so. There will be many tests once money and fame come along, but at its heart, your art and work should come first with everything else being secondary because the art and work are the true contributions to society.

WHO I THINK WOULD MOST ENJOY THIS MOVIE

This is a movie for any Beatles fanatics or musicians looking for some inspiration to chase their dreams. Also, anyone who likes musical feel-good movies.

ADDITIONAL NOTES/COMMENTARY

Yesterday has a lot going for it: a seasoned director, a great writer, and an intriguing premise. However, the film’s execution ultimately falls a bit flat for me. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the film, but the only thing that’s memorable about it is it’s premise. The acting was decent for the most part until you get to Kate Mckinnon’s portrayal of a stereotypical greedy Hollywood agent. With that character, everything was over-the-top and spoon-fed to the audience, which I didn’t appreciate. Additionally, while Lily James and Himesh Patel showed chemistry as a pair, I never quite bought the romance either, so that aspect was a bit underwhelming as well. Nevertheless, the film sells itself as a musical and it delivers in every sequence that is related to the musical montages/sequences. I mean, you can’t go wrong with The Beatles, so that’s where I got the real fun out of this movie. There are also several genuinely funny moments that are typical of Richard Curtis-written movies, so you can have some fun with that as well. The movie’s moral could also be rather inspirational for any aspiring musicians/artists as it encourages persistence in living your dream to its fullest without compromising your ideals. This movie showed the temptations and moral tests that come along with money and fame, but it didn’t quite do it as well as contemporary, similarly premised movies such as Rocketman (2019) and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). All in all, Yesterday is definitely one of the weaker films in the legendary Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis’ filmographies, but can be an enjoyable time to be nostalgic about The Beatles.