If you remade the movie Sliding Doors with Gwyneth Paltrow and added a really awesome Beatles soundtrack, then you would get the movie Yesterday…only it would be better. This is one of those movies that I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was and if you’re a Beatles fan, then you’ll definitely like it because of the music. Plus, it’s another shining example, that Danny Boyle as a director doesn’t always have to be dark. It was funny, entertaining, and it certainly rivals Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocket Man for really good soundtracks.  This is one of those little underdog films that will probably go unnoticed this year, but shouldn’t. I guarantee it will not disappoint if you go and see it at the theater.

The story centers around a failed musician who has a freak accident and basically goes to a parallel universe where no one has ever heard of the music group The Beatles. Of course in this parallel universe, they haven’t heard of Harry Potter either, there’s certainly a great joke about that at the end of the film. But imagine if we didn’t have the Beatles music or we didn’t know great musicians like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Some of the best music in the 20th century was written by The Beatles and it still stands the test of time, so you can imagine how sad of a world it would be if we didn’t have their music. But here we have a story of one man who remembers who they were in the other universe and sets out to record all of their music. Is he a fraud or is he simply a saint bringing back their music to a shit world who’s never heard of it. It’s an interesting question in the movie does a great job and trying to answer that. Of course, he is known as the best music writer of all time…I love the irony that it’s Ed Sheeran in the movie who says that. I’m sure I can make quite a few jokes about how his music sucks, but we won’t go there. I do applaud him portraying himself and actually have a sense of humor about how crappy his rap music is. In the end, we get this delightful story of a guy who might be a fraud, but it’s doing the world a favor by bringing back the Beatles music and all at the same time trying to decide if Fame and Fortune as a musician is worth more than the girl he likes. Yes, we’ve seen that story before, but it doesn’t necessarily get old within this particular theme because we have a really awesome people soundtrack.

I’m not going to tell you that this is the greatest music movie ever. The movie is okay. It’s funny and I think most people will end up seeing it more than once. I applaud the performances by Himesh Patel and Lily James. But of course the standout is Kate McKinnon has the selfish money hungry record producer. With her you know you’re always going to get plenty of laughs. It’s a heartwarming film, but there are certainly some pacing issues. They’re easy to ignore because of the comedy. And unfortunately as good as the music is, it’s mixed in a weird way that takes away from how good the Beatles music really is… yes, it may be a good soundtrack, but it is also kind of annoying because I do feel like they’re trying something different to showcase a different singer who’s just covering the songs when in the end all we really want is to hear is the Beatles themselves.

I would certainly watch this film again before I watched Sliding Doors again, mostly because of the music and Kate McKinnon. While there are scenes that I feel like our little too rushed and scenes that drag out a little bit too much in the end, the film is heartwarming and doesn’t disappoint… I don’t know if I would pay a full price movie ticket to see it, but a good matinee… absolutely. I do feel like that the performances are the best part of this film and I was not bored with it at all. They kept me laughing and didn’t make me want to get up from my seat, which is always a good sign with a movie. I certainly recommend this movie to those who love good music and heartwarming comedy and if nothing else, it would certainly be a great date movie for the Beatles aficionado in you. Perhaps that’s the best compliment I can give Yesterday.