July 6, 2019 · Watch the trailer
We need to talk about Ed Sheeran, like Yesterday.
I like Ed Sheeran.
As a soon to be 35-year-old man, I probably enjoy his music a little more than I should.
His tunes are catchy, the lyrics are free-flowing in a white dude rapping along to the “Hamilton” soundtrack sort of way. It just works.
And now, somehow, the spell of Sheeran has been broken for me. Permanently, most likely.
Sheeran plays a slightly exaggerated version of himself (I’m assuming) in the Danny Boyle film “Yesterday,” a musical “what if the Beatles never existed” film penned by rom-com heavyweight Richard Curtis.
After a worldwide power outage that leaves significant pop culture gaps in history, a musician about to give up playing realizes he’s the only one on the planet who’s ever heard the Beatles. This prompt Jack to reconstruct their entire catalog…… and become the best songwriter on the planet in the process.
It’s a fantastic concept that plays out pretty well for most of the film’s two hour run time.
Yet in a world without Paul, John, George and Ringo, all we need is Ed?
It should be stated at this point that a discussion of Ed Sheeran’s performance can’t really be done without spoiling a large portion of “Yesterday.” SPOILERS AHEAD, read on at your own risk.
There’s far too much Ed Sheeran in a movie about the greatest rock band in history, too much of his face, too much of his just woke up sense of fashion and far too much of his music.
When you look at “Yesterday” structurally, Curtis’ screenplay consolidates a number of influential musicians Jack could have met along the way down to one person. As such, the Ed Sheeran audiences see becomes a character with far more agency in the film than rightfully deserved.
Doing this also reduces Jack as a character.
If Jack were to meet a number of pop icons, this would have made each cameo more impactful while keeping the focus on Jack’s journey and the music of the Beatles.
Simplifying this to one artist with a constant presence in the film certainly makes things easier on the filmmakers, but elevates the character (in this case, Sheeran) to plot-essential status and reduces the validation of Jack that multiple musicians gushing over him could have given the character.
Let’s break this down scene by scene.
Early in his discovery, Jack performs “In My Life” on a British television show. Off screen, Ed watches the performance at home and is driven to not only call him immediately but show up unannounced at his parents’ house late that night to invite Jack to open for him on a European tour and share a pint of cider.
On its own, this sequence isn’t that bad and actually engages the audience with some lighthearted ribbing at Ed’s expense. Jack’s dad comments that Ed looks exactly like Ed Sheeran, which works comically in the scene. The overall incredibility of the scene’s premise – that a world-famous musician would drop everything to invite a nobody to open for them – works well and is charmingly quaint.
One night on tour, Ed challenges Jack backstage to a songwriting contest, where both have 10 minutes to write the best possible song that they’ve never worked on before. Ed returns with a cutesy tune about his love reminds him of a penguin on the ice not meant to fly. This song verse is regarded by everyone in attendance as unbeatable until Jack sits at a piano and “debuts” a deeper cut from the Beatles’ discography, “The Long and Winding Road,” which wins in a no-contest.
Again, on its own, this scene doesn’t really harm the overall film much and has a decent amount of fun until the end. Once the contest is over, Ed laments to Jack about his inferiority to this musical savant and claims to be the Antonio Salieri to Jack’s Amadeus Mozart. Indeed, the rest of the film then places Ed in a John the Baptist-esque role of herald for the coming of Jack Malik, emerging rock king.
Leave a Reply