New York, 7/2/2019 (Note the proper way to write the date!)
Dear Friends Across The Pond,
Yesterday, I saw Yesterday. Date night with the wife. Looking for a charming romantic comedy? This might be it. Fantastic music by the Beatles (and a little bit of Ed Sheeran), and a loveable, relatable lead character played by Himesh Patel.
You’ve seen the trailer so you already know the plot. Patel’s character is a failing singer-songwriter until a mystical event happens and he becomes the only person in the universe to remember who the Beatles were. Overnight, he transforms into the world’s best songwriter, “writing” songs like Let It Be, Yesterday, and Back In The USSR.
I was a bit apprehensive about how this would all end. I get very empathetic with movie characters. I warned my wife that there would be a point in the movie I might have to walk out if this all got too wound-up. I mean, who hasn’t fantasized they were a rock star … and that they’d written a Beatles song or two? (In my fantasy, I’ve also written several of Bob Dylan’s songs and ripped one or two from Jerry Garcia.) But then there’s always the fear of getting found out. Oh, the horror of being exposed by my idols!
Fortunately, there was no need to scurry out of the theatre and hide in the restroom, hyperventilating into a brown paper bag. The writers did a really neat job of tying up the movie without too much awkwardness. I won’t spoil any of that for you.
But the best part of the movie was Lily James, Patel’s love interest. What is it with sweet, attractive, slightly awkward, British actresses that I find irresistible? Is it the accent?
Sure. Is it the way the loser guy always gets the girl – and how I relate the loser in me to marrying a woman way beyond his class, as in the case of me and my wife? Well, let’s stick with the accent thing. Yes, definitely the British accent.
In any case, thank you British films and British actresses. Thank you Lily James and Felicity Jones and Kate Winslet and Emma Watson and Keira Knightley and you too, Audrey Hepburn (born in Belgium, but British to me).
Thank you for renewing hope that it is possible for us losers to land a smart, attractive, quirky woman like you. Oh … wait. I mean, thank you for the accent. Yes, definitely the British accent thing.
Picture: Yesterday: Himesh Patel and Ed Sheeran (Universal)
Letter from America, part nine: Where are your balls, Theresa May?
Letter from America, part eight: Bohemian Rocketman
Letter from America, part seven: Come on UK, do something funny already
Letter from America, part six: So you’re getting divorced …
Coming soon: the MMR Yesterday podcast!
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