10 Movies That Abandoned Awesome Ideas Halfway Through
3. An Alternate Universe Where Nobody Remembers The Beatles - Yesterday
Danny Boyle's Yesterday certainly wasn't wanting for a provocative premise - what would happen if you were suddenly the only person on Earth who could remember The Beatles?
The setup is certainly strong, as struggling musician Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is hit by a bus and awakens to find that nobody else remembers The Beatles, which offers him the opportunity to pass the songs off as his own.
It's a killer concept, but Yesterday comes unstuck by the mid-way point when it shifts away from considering the nature of the creative process and the impact of pop-culture on humanity to become a more generic romantic comedy mixed with an unwieldy commentary on the corporate music industry.
Yesterday feels like two very different movies smashed together - a more modest, introspective piece about creativity and a decidedly broader, more generic feel-good rom-com. Unsurprisingly, one is much better than the other.