These two comedies have a bit more in common than there appears to be at first glance. Both star members of the South Asian diaspora. Both are about the characters' relationships with mostly white-male dominated pop culture, music in "Yesterday," and comedy in "Late Night." And oddly, both involve the creation of these weird alternate realities to explore the themes of creativity and personal growth. I don't think either film is particularly good, though both are pretty watchable and feature some decent performances.
First, there's "Yesterday," written by romantic-comedy vet Richard Curtis, and directed by Danny Boyle. It stars Himesh Patel as Jack Malik, an aspiring singer/songwriter of limited talents. His childhood friend and manager, Ellie (Lily James), is the only one who believes in him. Then one day, Jack is hit by a bus and wakes up in a world where the Beatles apparently never existed. Jack is the only one who seems to remember their songs, so he uses their catalog to propel his own music career to new heights. However, when his fame really starts to take off, he has to weigh his newfound success against his relationship with Ellie and his own artistic integrity.
"Yesterday" is a lot of fun as a Beatles fan, because the filmmakers got the rights to a big batch of the original songs, and there are some good gags with Google-as-exposition, Jack coming to grips with his circumstances, and the Beatles' extensive cultural footprint. There's a lot of dunking on Ed Sheeran, who plays a loser version of himself in the film, and Kate McKinnon is firing on all cylinders as a monstrous L.A. music agent. The trouble is that the entire romantic side of the film is awful, with developments that make no sense whatsoever. It was infuriating to watch Lily James being wasted in a nothing of a role. And while Patel carries the film with no problems, Jack isn't particularly interesting or sympathetic either.
While the premise is a lot of fun, it feels like the movie exists to be an excuse for Beatles nostalgia. And if you're not already familiar with the Beatles - and they are receding in the popular culture at a pretty rapid pace these days - the movie doesn't work nearly as well. Frankly, it strains credibility that some of these songs written in the '60s and '70s would gain so much traction in 2019. And while I appreciate that Himesh Patel was cast as the lead, it doesn't feel like the filmmakers took enough advantage of his background. I don't think there's any acknowledgement of it within the film itself.
This is not a problem with "Late Night," which was written by Mindy Kahling and based off of her own experiences as a comedy writer in an industry full of white men. It may be Emma Thompson headlining, but the bulk of the movie is following Kahling's Molly on her journey from newbie to cornerstone of the writer's room. What strikes me as curious, however, is that "Late Night" also takes place in an alternate reality. Molly is hired to write for late night host Katherine Newbury, played by Thompson, a female, British host on American late night, who has been a comedy icon for decades, but is now in danger of losing her once massively successful show.
In other words, "Late Night" takes place in a universe where David Letterman was a British woman, who dealt with the boy's club by more or less joining it and upholding the status quo. The movie diligently explores these issues, putting Molly in a position where she has to deal with the prejudices of both the totally white male writer's room and a demanding female boss. I understand why Kahling put Newbury into the movie, because the dynamic is interesting, and it allows them to look at some of these issues from a different perspective. On the other hand, Katherine Newbury is not a well constructed character. Emma Thompson's performance is just the right mix sympathetic and awful, but I just don't buy Newbury as a late show host - even one past her prime.
"Late Night," despite being about comedy, isn't very funny. "Yesterday" deploys far more successful gags and one-liners. Instead, it's an office workplace dramedy trying very hard to be insightful and sincere, with mixed results. I can't help wondering if it would have made its points better and been overall more successful if it had just been about Molly in a more real-world scenario. Kahling and company still could have talked about life after #Metoo, the reality of being a diversity hire, and the pitfalls of being a funny woman. Emma Thompson could have still been involved playing another writer or a director, or a talent wrangler. Heck, Newbury being a more recently hired host instead of part of the old guard would have solved a lot of issues. The current version, the fading icon, often just feels like wishful thinking, and I don't think anyone really thought through all the implications that came with it.
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