Review of Yesterday (2019) by Cityofgeek — 10 Feb 2020

I saw this in theaters and absolutely loved it, left the auditorium crying like a baby. I have no qualms to admit crying at movies. Another sweet, positive movie about celebrating imagination and creativity. Patel gives a star-making turn as a failing musician who, after a world-wide black out, seems to be the only one who remembers the music of the Beatles. So he takes it upon himself to make-an-unfailure by passing them off as his own. Patel is utterly charming as a man trying to find his place with a whole new world placed in front of him. Should he keep with the lie and take the fame, scale back a while, or just stay in town with his manger/bestie Lily James, obviously nursing a crush on him. James has a rather thankless role but she’s great as always, and I try to steer away from this but I can’t help it, cute as all hell. We see the love and pain in her eyes and performance.

We all know the music of The Beatles is something special, and the film brings that joy of their music in a new way, using them as a celebration of music and love. On this second viewing, it does feel a little of the length in the 2nd act after an astounding first. Many are upset over the end, but I think it works. The actually end is an utter joy, but there is a particular scene with a particular person that is sob-city.