Yesterday

It seems like I have been looking forward to the movie Yesterday for so long!  I had the chance to see it yesterday (ha ha) and, as a huge Beatles fan, I absolutely loved it!  Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling musician about to give up on his dream although his best friend and manager Ellie (Lily James) continues to encourage him.  During a solar flare which causes a blackout around the world, Jack is involved in a collision with a bus which knocks him out.  He wakes up in an alternate reality where the Beatles do not exist and only he remembers all of their songs.  He decides to play a few Beatles songs at one of his gigs and eventually gets the attention of Ed Sheeran (playing himself) who asks him to open for him on tour.  This gets the attention of Sheeran's manager Debra (Kate McKinnon) who signs him to a record deal.  He becomes insanely popular but just when his dreams are about to come true he starts to feel conflicted about taking credit for songs he didn't write.  The premise of this movie is so clever but you really need to suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy it.  You could make yourself crazy thinking about what kind of world would exist without the Beatles because their music had such an influence on so many other musicians.  I recommend that you don't think about it too much and just appreciate this movie for the feel-good comedy that it is.  Patel is endearing as Jack, James is charming as the girl who has had a crush on him since he sang "Wonderwall" at the school talent show, and their romance is very sweet.  Sheeran is adorably goofy and McKinnon is hilarious as the personification of greed in the music industry.  The best part of this movie is the music and I loved the staging of all of the songs, particularly when Jack sings "Yesterday" for his friends who are hearing it for the first time and are awe-struck by it!  If you are a fan of the Beatles you will probably enjoy this movie as much as I did!