Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Himesh Patel | ... | Jack Malik | |
Lily James | ... | Ellie Appleton | |
Sophia Di Martino | ... | Carol | |
Ellise Chappell | ... | Lucy | |
Meera Syal | ... | Sheila Malik | |
Harry Michell | ... | Nick | |
Vincent Franklin | ... | Brian | |
Joel Fry | ... | Rocky | |
Michael Kiwanuka | ... | Michael Kiwanuka | |
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Karma Sood | ... | Young Jack |
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Gus Brown | ... | Marcus The Dentist |
Sanjeev Bhaskar | ... | Jed Malik | |
Karl Theobald | ... | Terry | |
Alexander Arnold | ... | Gavin | |
Dominic Coleman | ... | Ipswich TV Host |
In Lowestoft UK, Jack Malik is a frustrated musician whose musical career is going nowhere despite the faith that his friend/manager Ellie Appleton has in him. However, on the night Jack decides to give up, the whole world is momentarily hit with a massive blackout during which Jack is hit by a bus. Upon regaining consciousness, Jack learns to his astonishment that he is apparently now the only one who knows the music of the Beatles. Realizing this improbable opportunity, Jack begins playing the music of one of the world's greatest rock bands, being forced to claim it as his own. It pays off quickly and Jack becomes a worldwide musical sensation. However, Jack finds himself drifting away from Ellie, only realizing his love for her when she has become intimidated by his success, which depends on a blatant plagiarization that no one could find out. Now, Jack must make a fundamental moral decision about his music to satisfy his conscience as he decides what he truly needs. Written by Kenneth Chisholm
The concept of the movie is nothing short of brilliant, though delivery is solid, but not stellar. Still, it is a good movie, with lots of Beatles music celebrated in a nice way, but the movie is a bit light when tackling issues of plagiarism, cost of fame, corruption of the music industry etc. It can also be inspiring from time to time, showing how a true gift of genius must feel like and how it is, supposedly, validated despite of some misunderstandings and corruption on many levels in modern society. Some lighthearted humor and pretty formulaic love story is there also along the way. The movie is somewhat ruined by casting of one pretty lame SNL actress, who just cannot act and is so over the top disgust ing that she unwittingly parodies the intended music industry parody and undermines the otherwise pretty decent movie. However, music of the boy band from Liverpool saves the day time and again, and shows how true talent and genius looks like, almost by contrast.