Like he's playing Paul McCartney, someone even calls him "Macca," but he's not really that interesting or dynamic and doesn't really do anything in the film, we're just supposed to find his "day in the life" super fascinating?
Even if (spoiler) it's all a dream? What a weird fuckin dream, pal. As Jennifer pointed out, he stood up for this ex-con and then had a two hour fantasy sequence about how the guy might have fucked him over except no, it was just everyone assuming he'd fucked you over, but it's actually..
--He wrote the world's dumbest, schmaltziest song about writing love songs and chose to stage it as if it were the opposite which is actually the exact wrong move
--Speaking of reusing old hits, this is the worst version of "The Long And Winding Road" I have ever heard and he no longer gets to complain about Phil Spector ruining his song because this is so much worse I cannot even believe his gall
--Paul thinks his pretend real fantasy life is so exciting we will sit through a rehearsal of three songs I've never heard in a row. With nothing else going on except they're in a garage or whatever playing songs. This is not how musicals work.
--Paul being a terrible actor is so wild, like he's such a great performer and gives great interview and he's consistently cute as a button but you ask him to deliver lines and he gets replaced with a cardboard cutout
--Would this movie have been made if John was still alive? I ask because if he was alive he might have seen it and Paul might have realized that. I have questions.
--I think he thought he was making A Hard Days Night but he has literally none of the factors in play that make that movie great. Except his eyebrows those are still intact and I'm a huge fan but ... no
I hesitate to call MMT a movie but I could see someone preferring it because at least it is not even trying to be coherant and therefore succeeds at that goal
I remember reading about someone telling Paul that the Band on the Run album cover was kinda lame and Paul asked why he wasn't told this when they were working on it. Paul was apparently stunned to learn that he wasn't the easiest person to say no to.
(I'm not sure he actually wants to be in charge either? But he's got the ideas, and he wants things a certain way, and there are only so many ways to get there)
He seems to want to always be right and to have his ideas realized but he doesn't want to be the one bossing people around because he likes being liked. But he still gets pegged as bossy because, well. He ends up doing it anyway.
God I was reading today about him writing to the Dalai Lama about why he still eats meat and the DL wrote back and was like "my doctors say I have to for my health" and Paul was still like "I dunno sounds fake."
And you're like... bro it's the Dalai Lama calm down
But yeah he made a couple pretty bad movies here. And he's so adorably unwilling to dwell on anything he's just sort of like "oh they weren't that bad!" and moves on.
BUt yes I wish someone had been able to tell him when to dial it back or whatever. Which John Lennon could. He heartbreakingly talks about having a John in his head when he's writing songs but I do not think head!John is as harsh as he needs to be lol.
John Lennon just said shit; he was far less concerned about being liked and I’m not sure Paul’s brain can play that character because I don’t think he knows what that’s like.
And you're like... bro it's the Dalai Lama calm down