RICHARD CURTIS, THE TYPHOID MARY OF INCURable romantics, is not surprised that even though it is 9 a.m. on a weekday, Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon in New York City’s Central Park, is crowded.
And he’s not bothered that the obligatory rumpled guitar- playing guy is doggedly torturing the Beatles’ oeuvre for tips. It would be hypocritical of the writer of the romantic-comedy classics Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary to deny tourists—or guitarists— whatever emotional fantasy sustains them.
Curtis has never been to Strawberry Fields before, even though he’s a Beatles superfan. In 1963, when “I Want to Hold Your Hand” came out, he was a 7-year-old New Zealand–born Brit living in Sweden. His parents had the same records every grownup in those days had—one copy of My Fair Lady and two of The Sound of Music. But he had older sisters. And he had teenage babysitters. So when the Fab Four exploded, he was on the front line and his hungry ears took the full force of the blow. The day The White Album was released, he got up three hours early to sit on the radiator to simulate a fever so he could stay in bed and listen to its songs on the radio. He has even met two real Beatles: George and Paul.
Having stepped away from full-blown feature movies for a few years—he endured some boxoffice under performers (Pirate Radio) and criticism for an out-of-date portrayal of Britain—Curtis, 62, is back with a movie that doubles down on the nostalgia. Yesterday, out June 28, is an uncomplicated work of wish fulfillment about Jack (Himesh Patel), a down-on-his-luck singer, and his best friend and manager, Ellie (Lily James), who he can’t tell is in love with him. It’s all amusingly shambolic until, after a momentary global blackout, everybody except Jack forgets every Beatles song. He gets to introduce some of the world’s most pure and polished pop confections as if he had written them.
This story is from the July 1, 2019 edition of Time.
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This story is from the July 1, 2019 edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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