Yesterday

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. (29/06/2019)

Such an interesting idea and kickoff from a great duo of English filmmakers that resulted in trivial moralizing about life values and love as the most important thing. What, in my opinion, was most astonishing was the completely unused potential of the Beatles’ hits and music in general. This is not a musical film, even though each and every viewer expects it to be. And the key drawback is the unimpressive lead actor, who is outshined by his character’s girlfriend. Is the overall outcome attributable to the film being a quick attempt to ride on the back of the success of Bohemian Rhapsody? That seems so, as it even panders to the viewer in a similar manner as BR. But in this case, a similar recipe produced the almost opposite result. (26/08/2019)

I adore Curtis and I respect Boyle a lot, but here it felt as if they were just cashing-in for their retirement. A film without spark, drive or plot that fails to bring anything distinctive or remarkable to its simple and predictable premise. The protagonist has no character and the story never places any major obstacles in front of him, he doesn’t even have to defy his loved ones, he simply steals the works of others despite moral doubts, and in the end he changes his mind and everything is OK. The world of About Time perhaps had similarly loosely arranged values, but it managed to fully draw in the viewer, crushing them emotionally several times, while declaiming its ideas in a tasteful and original way; this one in contrast, is nothing but sentimental cliché with an unrealistic romance that takes the music of The Beatles only as a pretext to pin its shallow ideas. The funniest scene is the first performance of “Let It Be” in front of the family and the most beautiful is the meeting with John Lennon, where I could see Curtis and it warmed my heart, but the rest is massive and bitter disappointment. (17/10/2019)

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)