Review of Across the Universe (2007) by Jovial_Bison — 01 Dec 2010

The film ultimately comes across as one mega-gimmick. This is a musical that does not use the soundtrack to enhance the plot and character development like most musicals. Rather the plot is used as a clumsy device to shoot from one song or reference to the other, often inexplicably. For instance, the female lead is named Lucy, solely for the purpose of playing "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" which ends up seeming nonsensical in the greater context of the film; the pinnacle of this is the director's interpretation of "Dear Prudence," which features the group singing the lyrics "Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?" to a secondary character named none other than... Prudence who has locked herself in a closet in a fit of teen angst. It could be argued that the scene contains a deeper meaning in that Prudence is revealed to be a lesbian (not coincidentally in a scene that makes no sense in the larger scope of the narrative) and that this is the group urging her to "be herself," this however is ultimately lost in the almost comical absurdity of the scene. Situations such as this present themselves often in ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, and I couldn't help but feel that during every single musical selection or reference to THE BEATLES or their work that the movie itself was nudging me with its elbow, constantly asking if I got what it did there. The end result is a musical that is hindered by its use of soundtrack as opposed to being aided by it and thinks far too highly of itself in the process.

Pros: There's some pretty things to look at.

Cons: Plot? who needs plot when you have a soundtrack.