seen on 11 August 2019
Danny Boyle directs Himesh Patel as Jack Malik, a Suffolk musician, and Lily James as Ellie Appleton, his friend and initial manager, in a whimsical comedy (re-)written by Richard Curtis about a struggling musician who wakes up after an accident to discover that only he can remember the Beatles; he becomes a superstar by apparently composing the music and lyrics to many Beatles hits and winning the admiring support of Ed Sheeran (played by himself).
The premise is explored only for its comic potential - a mysterious 12-second world-wide blackout, during which Jack's accident occurred, apparently switched him into an alternative world where the Beatles have never sung together; or perhaps our world was unaccountably changed during Jack's unconsciousness. It is unimportant because the film is really about Jack's exposure to rock-star fame and his return to ordinary life with Ellie, who is of course the girl for him. There are comic scenes with mystified parents, an enthusiastic amateur recording engineer with a studio beside a train line, a predatory American manager (Kate McKinnon), and a bemused Ed Sheeran, and of course some hugely enjoyable covers of various Beatles hits.
Occasionally Jack finds other things he took for granted missing from his new environment - for example Coca Cola (Pepsi has survived), and even cigarettes. This allows for a last comic possibility or temptation for Jack, which he wisely eschews in favour of domestic bliss.
It's all good fun, nicely played by the cast and engagingly shot in various Suffolk locations as well as diversions in Moscow, Los Angeles, Liverpool and Wembley.
