Yesterday

 

Rocky: Ah, Jodie. You've known me a few years. You've read some of my tales. You published my article on the psychology of a fiction writer. So, you know I have acquaintance with the world of fantasy.

Yesterday is a fantasy. A version of it many people have, me included.

I'll get to the acting, writing, and directing in a second, but first I want to respond as an audience member. Some at my viewing enjoyed it. A couple heading out of the theatre muttered things about "delusions" and "not living in the real world" and "disrespecting The Beatles."

The story itself is not real. It is delusional. It is a story that an underdog might dream. But for me, that did not take away from its entertainment value. Movies serve many purposes, but escapism is certainly one of those. And, as one who has written songs the world has never heard, I escaped into Jack's success.

Jodie: Well Rocky, I certainly agree with you, Yesterday is a fantasy. But it got me thinking about the lure of fame and the oft-quoted advice, ‘Be careful what you wish for’. With the current state of society and the role of social media in instant gratification and increased reach, also relatively instantaneous, it isn’t a surprise that there’s been a lot of research into the psychology of fame and that’s an angle I’d like to focus on in this review.

Rocky: You know stories, Jodie, the many ways they can be constructed. This one, I am happy to say, is based on the classic question, "What if …?" Yesterday asks that question. What if one of the great musical groups of the twentieth century never existed, but their songs lived in the mind of one poor player who, in the words of Shakespeare, "struts and frets his hour upon the state and then is heard no more." Such is the fate of Jack Malik, well and sympathetically played by Himesh Patel.

Jack is heard no more until he plays the song Yesterday for his friends as a fond farewell to show business. They love it, but when Jack explains that it is a song by The Beatles, no one, not a single soul, has heard of them … or the song.

From here, the "what if" is predictable. He has a "manager," a longtime childhood friend Ellie Appleton (Lily James, in a lovely performance) who teaches math by day. Of course, he is in love with her, has been forever, but has never been able to summon the courage to tell her. Of course, we can tell that she certainly wants him to. Which begs the question, aren't we in an age where a woman can initiate these things, rather than saying, "I've waited twenty years for you, and you blew it, sport?" Just a question.

Predictable, Jodie, and a tad old fashioned.

Jodie: It’s this relationship Rocky that highlights my observations.

Much research likens fame to a high, one which is highly addictive. Like any high, the lure is very attractive, it feels good, and after experiencing it, it’s natural to want that feeling again, and again, and again. It can get to the point where the high consumes our thoughts and then our behaviours and of course, a tolerance builds, requiring more and more and more to get the same feeling. In the constant pursuit of that high, relationships can be abandoned, other responsibilities in life forgotten or left behind… loss and change in exchange for the bright lights.

Jack had been plugging away for years at pub gigs, no one except his friends really ever listening to his music, but like every artist, he’s motivated to share his art with a wider audience for whatever personally inspires him. If a tree falls in a forest without anyone to witness it, did it truly make a sound?

Jack, on that fateful night, was handed the Beatles’ fame, all in one go! What a dream! Or was it?

Rocky: But still enjoyable. Harlequin romances are predictable as hell. The reader knows what is coming, just not the how. The how is what stimulates the reader. In Yesterday, the how is what will stimulate the dreamer, because I just can't see pragmatists or realists enjoying this movie, unless it is for the timeless music of The Beatles. Most everyone will enjoy that, and maybe his encounter with the man who helps him see the light.

Jodie, I think dreamers are who this movie is for. In the way of Field of Dreams.

I am a dreamer.

The "how" in this case is predictable, but well done. I enjoyed the two different fantasies. The first dealing with drinking from the chalice of fame and fortune is rags to riches. The second concerning Jack plucking up the courage to tell Ellie that he loves her is classic shy guy feeling less-than. I thought the latter sequences suffered a little in the editing (or maybe it was the writing or directing), but the relationship was still there.

Jodie: It is classic and it is predictable, but in keeping with my argument, it wasn’t until Jack lost Ellie that he realized he loved her. As he toured the world, as he recorded records, after he left her back in their hometown teaching teenagers, he realized the emptiness of his pursuits.

The guilt, his imposter syndrome, the constant fear of being found out all served as his Damocles’ Swords. The further his fame developed, the less joy or high he felt.

Rocky: Adding spice to the sauce is the wonderful Ed Sheeran playing himself. His presence in the movie is not a cameo like Dustin Hoffman's was in The Holiday. Ed Sheeran is an actor playing Ed Sheeran, a major music star, just like the great director Cecil B. DeMille played himself in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard. And I never would have believed that a star of Sheeran's magnitude would portray himself the way he did. Stars of any age are so image conscious. Always have been. Always will be. This role did not lend itself to propelling his public image from demi-god to godlike status, though he is sympathetic.

I applaud him for it.

Yesterday is not a brilliant movie, but it wasn't trying to be. I enjoyed what the cast and crew brought to the screen and liked it for what it was; a fantasy in the tradition of James Thurber's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Jodie: I absolutely adored The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. That film was life changing for me, so I’m devastated that you’ve compared it to Yesterday. It wasn’t a brilliant movie, I agree. I almost fell asleep. I have to say, I was in a really comfortable theatre recliner though! I enjoyed Jack’s voice. I’m glad fame wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I liked that the two people allowed him to continue to share the Beatle’s music with the world, because it was all about the music afterall.

I felt sorry for Jack, coming down from his high. Adjusting his life to suit his overnight fame, the losses of his relationships, the guilt, the highs and the lows.

Rocky: It's a feel-good movie.

Oh, Jodie. I found myself mentally yelling at the screen "You fool! Tell her you love her." I've been that fool once or twice (or three times). That was the defining moment for me, the one shouting that the script was occasionally uneven and cliché, the directing not particularly inspired, and a couple of characters were a bit too melodramatic, even for a fantasy, but I still enjoyed it.

I felt good.

I'm giving this a 6 1/2 out of 10. Dreamers will like it. Others may be checking their watches the last forty minutes or so.

Both would be valid reactions.

What do you think, Jodie?

Jodie: I agree with you Rocky. A 6.5/10. I was checking my watch. I was trying not to fall asleep. I had high hopes. They weren’t satisfied. That would’ve been a better Netflix on a rainy day kind of movie for me.

Rocketman

Writers Rocky Hatley, the actor, and Jodie Fleming, the psychologist, met and became friends in the Literary Kitchen, an online writing class taught by Ariel Gore. Bonding over their mutual love of writing and cinema, they join forces to critique movies in a way that only an actor and a psychologist can. Unique and insightful. This is their review of the story of Elton John, Rocketman.

R: Ah, Jodie. When Elton John released "Your Song" here in America in 1970. I became a fan and have been since. So, when I heard that Rocketman would be coming out, I had an inkling that I might like it.
I didn't like it.
I loved it.

J: Well Rocky, even though I grew up with Elton John’s music, and loved it, I actually considered not seeing Rocketman when I first saw its trailer. If not for an invitation for a girls’ night out at the movies, I might not have seen one of the greatest human tales I have ever seen.

R: You know Jodie, one of the most difficult roles to play is someone in living memory. The successful ones can win Oscars. Sissy Spacek did in 1980 for playing Loretta Lynn. Rami Malek did this past year for playing Freddy Mercury. Two years ago, Gary Oldman won for playing Sir Winston Churchill. I do confess that I'm stretching "living memory" with Churchill. He died when I was seven.
The less successful ones can be embarrassing to behold.
I certainly believe Taron Egerton will receive Academy Award consideration for his portrayal of Elton John. He was that good. As flamboyant as Elton John was during the period covered by the movie, the temptation would have been to go way, way, way over the top chewing up the scenery along the way.
He did no such thing.

J: I think one of things dissuading me from going initially was Taron’s lack of likeness to Elton. Worried I wouldn’t ‘see’ Elton but instead, the actor, I was very pleasantly surprised as the movie progressed, that the character ‘became’ Elton, physically and in voice as well.

R: He brought the flamboyance, no doubt. But he also brought the deep pain brought on by an indifferent father and a cold-hearted mother, wonderfully played by Steven Mackintosh and Bryce Dallas Howard respectively. I have to be honest here. I never would have pictured Bryce Dallas Howard in this role. Not that she isn't a good actor. She is wonderful. But shame on me for doubting her because she nailed it, delivering the coldest line in the movie absolutely straight. One that sent chills down my spine.

J: Do you know Rocky, I didn’t even realise that Bryce played Elton’s mother! And worse than that, I didn’t even realise that his horrible manager, John Reid, was played by none other than Rob Stark! Haha, clearly not his real name.
Rocketman is a psychologist’s dream movie. We are literally following Elton throughout his drug and alcohol group therapy program for the duration of the movie. There’s so much to admire in the moviemaking of this theme of addiction that plagues Elton’s early career and is so accurately portrayed in this film.
Anyone interested in addiction theories in recent times will have stumbled across Johann Hari who says that, ‘the opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety, it’s connection.’ Well, I had that running through my mind whenever confronted with a scene involving little Reggie (and big Elton for that matter!) and his detached and verbally abusive mother and emotionally absent father likely living with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the army. With problematic attachments to both parents (thank goodness for Nan!), Elton sought out deep love and connection but sadly entered unhealthy relationships and turned to drugs and alcohol – addiction – in order to feel good, or to numb the pain. Johann Hari is certainly onto something in the need for love in treating addiction.
I know for you Rocky, you’ll be more focused on the writing and direction of the film.

R: The whole movie began with an amazing script by Lee Hall that effortlessly uses the songs to take us to and through the phases of Elton John's unconventional life.
Dexter Fletcher (Bohemian Rhapsody) certainly knows how to direct a music biopic. He took us all the way from Broadway musical to the depths of booze, drugs, sex, and despair. Beautifully done.

J: So beautifully done. One of my favourite observations was the gradual shedding of Elton’s elaborate costume he wore as he burst through the therapy door. As he shed his defenses, as he peeled back his protective layers and we were allowed inside the man, so too, did the costume, the mask, come off, until there he sat, in a bath robe.

R: I've heard criticism about how this movie is nothing more than yet another successful rise to richesses and fall to booze, drugs, and sex. Those who see it that way don't seem to get that this was Elton John's life. That it was made in a unique way, allowing the songs to tell the story along with the actors and the camera, make all the difference for me.
I also enjoyed the performances of Jamie Bell as Elton John's longtime writing partner the loyal and talented Bernie Taupin. And Richard Madden shined as the greedy, self-centered manager and former lover John Reid.

J: Bernie and Elton’s friendship is one to be envied. It also highlighted the fact though no one can save another until that other is willing to help themselves. Bernie being there at the end of Elton’s treatment is a shining example of what is needed for true recovery. The fact that they remain friends who have never argued, into Elton’s healthy relationship with husband David and fatherhood with their two sons, certainly highlights that friendship as one of Elton’s greatest protective factors.
My absolute favourite moment though, has to be the scene when therapy ends and Elton visualizes all of his key players including his parents, and also little Reggie, who asks Elton, ‘when are you going to hug me?’
What beautiful symbolism that we all need to practice self-love and self-compassion and that the adult version of ourselves can heal and nurture our childhood versions of ourselves in order to accept our past and ourselves.

R: I'm giving Rocketman a 10.

J: From a psychological perspective, I’m going to give it an 9/10.

We’d love to know whether we got it right! Send us your comments and scores for Rocketman. Let’s see how we did compared to your reviews. And if you like this review, share it with your friends and send us through your recommendations for films you’d like reviewed by The Actor & The Psychologist.