YESTERDAY

Tinsel & Tine #MiniMovieReview YESTERDAY (Director Danny Boyle | Writer Richard Curtis) I’m fascinated by The Mandela Effect – that phenomenon where a large collective of people globally remember something that didn’t actually happen. It’s named after South African President and anti-apartheid revolutionary, Nelson Mandela, because many people remember him dying in prison in the 80’s, from the announcement on the news, to watching the funeral service. But of course, this never happened, he survived prison, made a huge contribution as a political leader and died a peaceful death in 2013. The Bernstein Bears vs Berenstain Bears & Sinbad not actually having ever done a movie called Shazaam are two other well known examples of this strange trick of memory or perhaps proof of parallel Universes.

The gist of #Yesterdaymovie is a little different because it involves things that no longer happened, rather than a change in history, but it’s similar enough to #theMandelaEffect that it’s what made me excited about seeing the film, more than the Beatles aspect. But that’s the Sci Fi geek in me.

The whole premise relies on the fact that the Beatles songs are such cosmically known entities, that in some way shape or form they would have to exist in the world and people would still fall in love with them, even if they were presented in a different way. Himesh Patel (Jack Malick) has a fine voice and does a great job of reinterpreting the songs; he’s also an adorable, unlikely hero. Ed Sheeran’s role as himself, is hilariously realistic. And Lilly James once again proves she’s the perfect girlfriend, she’s basically the new Rachel McAdams. Most importantly, there’s a lot of music, not just snipits here and there, we get to hear a number of popular Beatles songs.

I also really enjoyed the reveals of other changes the world is now without after the 12 second blip. There’s no denying the endurable influence of the Beatles music, and this movie is a love letter to that; however, die hard Beatles fans will probably crave more of their whimsy and style and want to hear the songs the way the Beatles sang them. In someways, the premise could have worked with any prolific artist and it would basically be the same movie. Still, if you’re a regular person who just regularly enjoys the Beatles famous hits, like me, you’ll have fun watching Yesterday.

Tinsel & Tine the Large Association of Movie Blogs (aka the LAMb) rating: 3 outta 5