<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by Danny Boyle. Starring Himesh Patel, Lily James, Ed Sheeran, Kate McKinnon, Joel Fry, Alexander Arnold

Running time: 2 hours

After so many biographies of rock stars like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, here comes one for The Beatles. But this one has a bit of twist that could’ve worked brilliantly; however, it falls a bit flat and doesn’t really tell you much about The Beatles apart from the fact that they were loved and their names.

Indian born and Brit-raised Jack Malick is a singer-songwriter who will never be a star, until of course a very gimmicky miracle put him in a world where The Beatles never existed. He decides to utilise this boon by remembering all the lyrics and singing their songs as his own. Initially, even this doesn’t help him considering he doesn’t ‘look the part’. But eventually he received acclaim and even beats Ed Sheeran at a singing contest. Fame and fortune come in but the guilt of plagiarism doesn’t sit well with him especially since his career doesn’t let him be with Ellie (Lily James), his childhood friend and support. Why he can’t be with her, I never quite get. And since she only really comes out and expresses her feeling for him once he gains success, I gather she wouldn’t mind travelling around with him. Or is she looking for a grand gesture?

Debra (Kate McKinnon), his agent, keeps Malick on track but we never really see him as transform into a star at all and apart from showing us great big crowds, there’s no real sense that he has achieved cult-like status. He fiddles with the lyrics of the songs and they still sit well with the public. So there’s a total blanking out of what The Beatles stood for and their personas, which had just as much to do with their popularity as their songs.

Kate McKinnon makes her mark with some strong acting but Himesh Patel is totally flat and never looks like a loser or a winner. He’s just very mediocre. Lily James is cast in a role that any female actor could play with their eyes closed.

There are no great performances or inspirational moments. Hell, the finale is so unbelievably stupid that you wonder if they just gave up by the end and expected a gesture of love to win over the audience. Doesn’t do a thing and looks like it’s been copied from a thousand other films before it.

The message about happiness being the same as success and that fame and fortune can’t buy you joy is so tried and tired that you wish they’d have got to that point an hour earlier.

You don’t get a new story, you don’t get any information about The Beatles, you get a few laughs and that’s about it with Yesterday. Not even some stirring singing. Let it be!