YESTERDAY

Struggling musician Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is about to give up on this fading career, even with the encouragement of school teacher Ellie Appleton (Lily James) - his devoted manager and childhood best friend who's in love with him. But an accident during a mysterious global blackout changes his life. He wakes up in a world that never knew The Beatles ever existed. With a little help from their songs, Jack becomes a successful singer/songwriter. Will he find happiness? Will he lose Ellie? It won't be long before everything works out.

Any movie that can transport me back to the 60s for a couple of hours gets
my recommend. Director Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire") and screenwriter Richard Curtis ("Love Actually"), written with Jack Barth, certainly accomplish this feat. The fanciful story and its slight romance may be far-fetched, but it works like "Across the Universe" - using the greatest songs of the world's greatest band. Himesh Patel (BBC’s "Eastenders") handles the acting and singing impressively. The soundtrack, with new renditions of several hits, is alone worth the price of admission. The plot is an added treat. Lily James is a charmer as Ellie. The supporting cast mostly stays out of the way of the music. Singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran appears in the role of Ed Sheeran - a stretch? Kate McKinnon plays Jack's aggressive American agent Debra like she's in another SNL skit - annoying at times. Joel Fry is also a bit irritating as Malik's friend Rocky, an unemployed roadie who turns to Jack for work. But the film's faults are few and far between. Throughout this pleasing romp there's an often-hilarious running gag that reveals other non-existing entities. All of the elements magically come together. I believe in "Yesterday". (4/5 CAMS)

Rated PG-13 (for suggestive content and language)
Running Time: 116 minutes