Review of Across the Universe (2007) by Mariebella C — 15 Jun 2013

This film had an interesting idea, and a great concept. This along with occasional moments of brilliance were overshadowed by numerous loose plot points that didn't go anywhere and many missed opportunities.

Jim Sturgess stars as Jude, an English dockworker who goes to America. There, he meets a rebel named Max, Max's sister Lucy, and a boatload of other characters and oddballs. Sturgess, who I felt could've brought more to the conflicted lead, seems outmatched by good supporting performances.

Joe Andersen, as Max, gives the film's best petrformance as the non-conformist Princeton dropout. His character undergoes a change that I won't give away, but is worth seeing. Evan Rachel Wood, as Lucy, also shows a definite change in character and is worth viewing.

Songwise, when a film features Beatles songs being covered by other singers, they have to pull it off. Unfortunately, the modernized covers in this movie didn't work for me, and some of them were placed in totally unnecessary parts of the film.

Re-created scenes of the 60's (riots, Vietnam, etc.) are well done but not as affecting as they could have been. That image of the 60's has been done in films so often, that unless something new is introduced, it's just a history lesson.

This movie could've gotten 3, maybe 3 1/2 stars. However, self-indulgent scenes and an ending that threw out any substance the film had up to that point stop this film from being what it could've been.