“Jailhouse Rock,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “Purple Rain.” The Beatles are responsible for some of the most iconic songs ever — but imagine a world where the Beatles don’t exist. That’s exactly what happens in the movie “Yesterday.” It leads to a rather complicated situation.
Lily James (as Ellie Appleton): “When did you write that?”
Himesh Patel (as Jack Malik): “I didn’t write it. Paul McCartney wrote it, the Beatles.”
Lily James (as Ellie Appleton): “Who?”
What do you mean “who?” After getting in a bike accident, struggling musician Jack Malik, played by Himesh Patel, wakes up to quite the surprise.
Himesh Patel: “He realizes he’s living in a world where the Beatles never existed, but for him they did.”
This sends him down an interesting path of plagiarism. If the Beatles never existed, and now he writes all of their songs, is it really stealing?
Sanjeev Bhaskar (as Jed Malik): “What’s this one called?”
Meera Syal (as Sheila Malik): “‘Leave It Be.'”
Himesh Patel (as Jack Malik): “‘Let It Be.'”
Vincent Franklin (as Brian): “Well, rock on, Jack.”
The film is directed by Danny Boyle, who won the oscar for “Slumdog Millionaire.” He has you asking yourself, “What would I do if this happened to me?”
Danny Boyle: “He gangles to Google, obviously, ’cause where do you go these days? To Google, to God, the equivalent of God, to find out, is this true? And of course, there’s nothing on Google.”
Ed Sheeran (as himself): “Please make some noise for Mr. Jack Malik!”
Jack becomes an overnight sensation, singing Beatles songs with stars like Ed Sheeran.
Ed Sheeran: “I think Jack, I mean Himesh, is playing it brilliantly. It’s just the whole time he’s just kind of like, ‘Will I get found out?'”
As the movie goes on, Jack is faced with the fact that he’s living a lie, not just to his fans, but to his family and his girlfriend, played by Lily James.
Lily James (as Ellie Appleton): “You are the world’s greatest singer/songwriter.”
Himesh Patel (as Jack Malik): “I’m not.”
Lily James (as Ellie Appleton): “Except for that you are.”
Lily James: “It’s an amazing problem. You do think, like, what would you do if you had that knowledge? You would want to give it out to world. Otherwise there would be no Beatles, and imagine trying to remember the songs.”
All is going well until this happens.
James Corden (as himself): “I’ve got two men who claim that the songs are theirs. Let’s see how this plays out, shall we?”
And things from there get very interesting.
Himesh Patel: “It has been so fun to learn probably some of the best songs ever written, make them our own in some way.”
“Yesterday” starts rocking moviegoing audiences on Friday, June 28.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.