Across the Universe (2007)

Take a Magical Musical Tour across the universe to a land where the Beatles did not exist - only the characters of John, Paul, George and Ringo's songs. The movie creators had a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a definitive Sixties movie but they blew it to pander to the tastes of a younger audience who have absolutely no idea what these songs represented to the Sixties Counterculture Generation.

The best musicals are always time capsules of the periods they represent for example "Grease", "Hard Days' Night", "Hairspray", "That Thing You Do" where good story telling goes hand in hand with good musical performances and good acting. Hollywood, unfortunately, is notoriously inept in creating good period movies of the Sixties and Across the Universe is no exception.

Storyline:

Liverpudlian Jude (Jim Sturgess, a McCartney lookalike) together with Americans Max (Joe Anderson) and his sister, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) journey through the turbulent late-1960s against the backdrop of war, protest, sexual revolution, drugs and rock and roll.

The story line is thread bare mainly focusing on the ill-fated romance between Jude and Lucy.
It is only when the Beatles' songs come on that we see some semblance of a story. Across the Universe is peppered with references of the Beatles (like their Cavern and London Rooftop performances, Sgt Pepper and the Magical Mystery Tour) together with Jim Hendrix (Martin Luther McCoy) and Janis Joplin (Dana Fuchs) influenced characters.

Cast Performance:

The cast does not have much of a script to sink their teeth into so the overall performance does come across as weak. It was reported that most of the songs were sang live. This is obviously a mistake as the actors were not up to the task. Many of their songs are sung in such a slow tempo and the instrumentation was so sparse, you could achieve nirvana without much effort. Thankfully, the screen lights up with the appearance of vocally competent singers like Dana Fuchs (I Want You, Don't Let Me Down, Come Together) and Joe Cocker (Come Together). So it is no surprise that they provide the musical highlights for the movie. Bono of U2 (I Am A Walrus) unfortunately did not produce the fireworks everyone expected.

Production Values:

The casting, art direction, choreography, etc are very good. Albert Wolsky was nominated for Oscar for Achievement in Costume Design. Julie Taymor’s direction was better in the musical pieces rather than in the dramatic sequences. The dances and costumes were unconvincing and looked more like something from the 2000's rather than Sixties.

The best thing on the Across the Universe Special Edition 2-Disc DVD is the Extended Musical Performances which features the best performances from the movie. The Extended performances are: Hold Me Tight, Come Together, I Am A Walrus, Dear Prudence, Something, Oh! Darling, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Across the Universe / Helter Skelter. If only the whole movie was of a high standard as these performances..... To get a sonic treat from these songs, crank your amplifier until the speakers starts to hum, sit back and let it blast!

Advisory for Children and Objectionable Themes:

Across the Universe is rated PG-13 for some drug content, nudity, sexuality, violence and language. There is strongly implied alcoholism and nicotine consumption. Drug use is inferred and glamorized. College boys are seen smoking "make believe" joints. Nudity is subtle and not clearly visible except for an extended scene in which Jude draws a sleeping Lucy's bare breast. While most of the war violence are dreamlike; there is some strong blooded protest violence. There are some profane language and obvious sexual themes (like permissive free love and lesbianism). Definitely not for the kids.

Runtime: 128 minutes

Studio: Columbia Pictures

Streaming Video from YouTube on full movie trailer of "Across The Universe":

goingtomovies

Wednesday, April 2, 2008