Brilliant. Weird. Creative. Bizarre. Ridiculous. Beautiful. These are just a few of the words I could use to describe Julie Taymor’s musical Across the Universe. Definitely unlike anything I’ve seen in awhile, this film was nothing short of unique.
A young man from Liverpool (Jim Sturgess) travels to America in the 1960s to find the father he’s never met. In the meantime he befriends a rich Princeton student and falls in love with his sheltered younger sister (Evan Rachel Wood). Their love story spans a very tumultuous decade of war and activism. The music is entirely Beatles songs; as are most of the characters names as well.
In some ways this film was brilliant. The scene showcasing the song “Let It Be” might be one of the most amazing and moving scenes I’ve seen on film. Other times the songs and characters seemed forced and out of place. One character in particular, Prudence, seemed to be introduced only so that the Beatles song with her namesake could be used in the movie. Yes, I understand what else she represents (free love of the 60s, etc.) but her character never seemed natural and her introduction to the film was awkward.
Overall the singing and acting was good. Some scenes however felt obvious that a song was about to start and you could almost feel the characters moving to hit their mark. The film’s cinematography and art direction at times felt too bright and clean and like a perfectly manufactured set and stage. Other than a few scenes, you always felt like you were watching a musical on screen and the story didn’t really have enough depth to draw you in. You were never really “lost” in the magic of the movie and its music and this is where I think the film failed. It was incredibly inventive in its costuming and choreography however, so perhaps my disappoint was just a matter of taste.
The movie definitely follows a color by numbers romantic comedy plot line. Guy likes girl. Girl and guy get together. One or both of them does something stupid. Then one or both of them makes some grand gesture to win the other back, usually in some unrealistic or ridiculous fashion. I still wish I would have bet Daniel what the last Beatles song would be before the credits. Of course, Jude wins Lucy back by singing “All You Need Is Love.”
