‘Two of Us’ Imagines Reunion Between Lennon, McCartney

At a subconscious level, perhaps, baby boomers’ obsession with a Beatles reunion right up to John Lennon’s 1980 murder was not just about music, but also about repairing the generation’s turmoil-cleaved psyche. The two split halves are perfectly embodied in the schism between John Lennon (hermetic, paralyzed by genius and pain) and Paul McCartney (soldiering on by wrapping himself in work, family and stable mediocrity).

So imagine if the two of them had reconciled, spontaneously, one day in 1976, not to make music, but to talk--at times contentiously, but overall healing old wounds. Would that be comforting?

Strangely, it is in “Two of Us,” a surprisingly plausible “what if” fiction conjuring that very scenario. Stimulated by apocryphal legends that Lennon and McCartney (and in some tellings, George Harrison) were all in New York the day Lorne Michaels made a joke offer--a full $3,000!--for the Beatles to reunite on “Saturday Night Live,” first-time screenwriter Mark Stanfield has McCartney (Aidan Quinn) disgusted by endless questioning about a Beatles reunion, making a spur-of-the-moment call at the Dakota. Lennon (Jared Harris), alone as Yoko Ono and baby Sean are off in California “buying cows,” reluctantly lets Macca in, and after some uneasy jousting they’re off and talking--with some assistance from McCartney’s pot stash.

That, in a nutshell, is it. And yet it’s highly entertaining. Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg (who, having done the documentary “Let It Be,” brought insider authority) steers clear of contrivance and hokeyness, save for one bit in Central Park. Harris and Quinn are superb--the latter arguably with the harder job, as McCartney doesn’t come with such props as Lennon’s round glasses or his quick sneer to provide character shorthand.

It’s an unauthorized production (hence no actual Beatles, Lennon or McCartney music). But serious Beatles fans should have little to quibble with in the dialogue, which for the most part sounds like things John and Paul actually could have said. If it’s not quite on the level of the brilliant “The Hours and the Times” speculation of a Lennon-Brian Epstein weekend or the vivid pre-Beatlemania-set feature “Backbeat,” it’s a worthy addition to Beatles lore.

And the punch line involving the “SNL” gag neatly and touchingly veers from the easy fantasy conclusion and feels true as our heroes again go their separate ways.

* “Two of Us” premieres tonight on VH1 at 9. The network has rated it TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).