Yesterday

After the immortal songs of Queen and Elton John, filmmakers resurrected The Beatles, whose equally timeless songs are suddenly almost forgotten. The premise is indeed interesting, and I liked that they made some effort to bring The Beatles and their universe up to date. The lovely Lily James charmed me again and I hope newcomer Himesh Patel appears in future films. I liked the funny cameo of Ed Sheeran, but on the other hand, I still can’t bring myself to like Kate McKinnon. If you look for flaws in the film, I'm sure you can find something, but I was satisfied in the cinema. I was carried away on immortal rock classics, I experienced with the main characters their turbulent relationship and last but not least I was moved and surprised by the participation of a certain unnamed singer who rose from the dead. It's cheesy and plays on the emotions in places, but it's delivered in such an endearing way that I swallowed hook, line and sinker. (08/07/2019)

A well tuned crowd-pleaser for undemanding audiences. If I wanted to dig deeper, I would find plenty of arguments to tear it apart (like the total lack chemistry between the two main characters, or the morally problematic starting point and consequences), but I decided that I don’t want to. In any case, I will probably forget it before the festival is over. #KVIFF2019 (29/06/2019)

Danny Boyle has made another fairy tale, but compared to Slumdog Millionaire, I was less bothered by its fabulousness, in fact not at all. Why is that? Well, the script by Richard Curtis, who doesn't hesitate to mine an amazing idea from start to finish, keeps capitalizing on it and, thanks to Boyle's imaginative direction, turns it into a terrific comedy and one of the coolest stories in recent memory. Indeed it is, for the entire two hours I was either smiling or laughing and it's been a long time since I've walked out of a theater from a comedy that I remembered so many jokes and laughed when I recalled them. The comic plot clearly outweighed the predictable romantic one, but it didn't matter, on the contrary this ratio fit the overall mood of the film perfectly. Of course, I agree with the message that the Beatles' music is brilliant in any era;so if you feel the same way and if, like me, you'll spend the whole film looking for Paul and Ringo to appear, Yesterday has something wonderful in store for you. (30/06/2019)

Danny Boyle has made stronger films, but this likeable and enjoyable musical also has charm. Have you also noticed that they've been ripping it up lately? After Queen and Elton John there's The Beatles, but it's presented in a fairly original way, which is appreciated. I would appreciate it if more than three things disappeared from this world. Himesh Patel is solid and the finale is moving. 75% (31/10/2019)

The initial euphoria I felt from being able to hear The Beatles’ biggest hits in a romantic comedy, at least indirectly, the very songs that you could not previously hear in movies due to exorbitant licensing fees, has diminished now. Richard Curtis’ 'interesting idea to create an alternative world where a number of cultural phenomena have disappeared (not only The Beatles' music), turns out to be a bit of a half-hearted concept designed to string a number of ideas and jokes together (among them a pertinent jab at the modern trend of political correctness that the name of the legendary White Album is not racist), but in the end we have not found out much about its reasons for this world and its logic, plus how it actually functions. What is more, the muddled screenwriting seems a bit incoherent. Not to mention that there was a substantial intervention regarding the plot during post-production (they completely cut a subplot with Ana de Armas). The romantic storyline is really clichéd, and is simply there to frame the narrative. In addition, the wooden acting of Ed Sheeran had too much screen-time in the movie for my taste. Otherwise, it is, of course, a technically well-executed summer movie, which simply aims to create a feel-good nostalgic mood and entertain, which of course succeeds with most audiences. (23/07/2019)