A Hard Day’s Night sees Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison journey together, with Paul’s grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell), on their way to a televised performance. However, fame and Paul’s mischievous grandfather will pose a threat to their trip and their sanity. Can The Beatles overcome the issues at hand and find success, or will these issues and the hardships of fame render them incapable of performing?
Full disclosure, The Beatles are, in my opinion, the most overrated musical act in history. However, their influence is irrefutable and their presence in the musical community has led to the success of an immense number of artists. Regardless of my opinion of their music, the reality is that these behemoths of music may be the most important of all time. A Hard Day’s Night attempts to relay that message of importance to the world in ways that music alone isn’t able. The new combination of audio and visual, along with an added element of comedy, sees the world renowned musicians in a series of predicaments, bringing to life the people behind hits like “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “She Loves You.” Other than music videos and performances on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles hadn’t had the opportunity to be seen in this capacity, providing them an unusual outlet and a chance at multidimensional stardom.
Omitting any and all of the Beatles’ music in A Hard Day’s Night seems like a terrible idea, considering the prowess of nearly every lyric they wrote. However, given the fact that a good portion of the film is dedicated to The Fab Four expressing the difficulties of their fame, it feels that separating them from their music for just an hour and a half could have done some good had they made that decision. Seeing the four men dance to their own music feels a bit pretentious and paints them in an odd light. The reality is that the business of which they are a part is a difficult one; but seeing them express their displeasure with the spotlight and, in the same scene, react so favorably to their own music makes them appear conflicted, and not in an existential and relatable fashion, but in a way that causes them to be unappealing.
The jokes, and the dialogue in general, are cheeky and whitty, and, as a result nearly every line is powerful, at least it would have been had it been spoken by someone with any semblance of acting ability. The Beatles are unable to convey the necessary emotion in nearly every single scene. Their drab attempts at bringing to life Alun Owen’s script makes much of A Hard Day’s Night boring and unrelatable. Furthermore, the film presents Paul, Ringo, George and John with the opportunity to humanize themselves and allow viewers to see them simply as people rather than as a seemingly supernatural commodity. Even with the accessible comedy, the complete lack of emotion and talent in each of the singers (Ringo is sort of excluded from this critique as he is able to express himself better than the others) makes it difficult for viewers--and fans of cinema--to appreciate what is being done. The cinematography, which could have been used to fix the unreliability of the cast, does the opposite and makes them even more difficult to appreciate. Many of the scenes feel choppy and incomplete, jumping from person to person without allowing the viewer even a second to connect to the content. As A Hard Day’s Night fails to deliver acceptable cinematography, nearly everything is lost in translation, and viewers can find it difficult to appreciate what is on screen at any given moment.
Due to the fact that it melds both the acting and singing of one of the most well-regarded bands of all time, A Hard Day’s Night has the potential to find success among both fans and skeptics of the band. Furthermore, seeing the famed Beatles on the big screen (or in this capacity at all) is essentially guaranteed to entertain the masses given their popularity at the time of the film’s release. However, even with the popularity of the band, it seems necessary to reintroduce the actors and explain to audiences who and what each of the Beatles are throughout their day to day. It feels as if Owen believed that the world understood Paul, John, Ringo and George on a personal level, and that dedicating any time to character development was a waste of time. Regardless of the fact that people knew who the Beatles were as musicians, separating them from their music, even just a little bit, would have allowed for a better appreciation of the film and their characters.
With some serious oversights and the inability of any of the Beatles to resonate with characters as a result of anything but their fame causes some issues with the finished product.
The Beatles as the subject matter should ultimately guarantee Owen, director Richard Lester and the rest of the cast and crew success, but A Hard Day’s Night feels wishy washy and incomplete.
Directed by Richard Lester. Written by Alun Owen. Starring Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Wilfrid Brambell, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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