Review of Across the Universe (2007) by Kristin S — 07 Apr 2017

Across the Universe is a movie that would work really well as an involving and devastating character drama if any of the characters beyond Jude, Lucy, Max and Jo-Jo were any interesting at all. This is a movie that will appeal to the snarky 13 year old boy with pretentious quotes from French metal albums on their Facebook timelines that lives in all of us, using timeless songs to tell stories that sometimes don't end up relating too well.

In all honesty, I really want to love this movie. I love the Beatles, and the basic idea of this film was intriguing enough. I hadn't seen any trailers or read into the plot at all, so I went in completely blind (other than the fact that it is a musical that uses the Beatles' library as the framework for it's story), so I had no expectations.

There are several scenes that just made me wonder 'why did they do this?' These scenes include shots that look like they came out of a mid-90's grunge band video that the director was fired for, and the others just flat out hurt to look at.

Some of the music is really really really good, such as Jo-Jo singing 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' with Jude, and the finale where Jude sings 'All You Need is Love'. Others, however, fall flat on their faces due to failed attempts to change the tune, key, or whatever to change the mood to fit the story.

This is most evident in Prudence's teen angst version of 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'. Speaking of which, Prudence was a character who made no sense to me. She didn't bring anything, she didn't evoke any feelings inside me, and she especially doesn't help the overstuffed story move along any smoother.

It is unfortunate that someone as talented as T.V. Caprio took the job, but hey, if I was offered the chance to be a character in a movie that revolves solely around the Beatles' music, I would have probably accepted the role too.

Several characters have names that are so obviously references to the songs that will be used later on that it takes part of the surprise of the story out. I knew throughout the whole thing that Jude was going to have to go back home, and that someone singing 'Hey Jude' would make him 'go out and get her'.

The use of Prudence as a character feels like it was the writers trying to justify the use of 'Dear Prudence' in a story context, but it all feels absolutely mundane and drawn out, especially given the nature of how that song would have worked better for Lucy as a character.

However, the fact that the main love interest is named Lucy just reminds you that there will be some kind of 'Lucy in the Sky' joke lurking around the corner, wasting the great opportunity to call her Prudence instead, to make a parallel between 'Hey Jude' and 'Dear Prudence'.

While I have a lot to say about this movie that is bad, I think there is a little more good than bad in this movie. For one thing, Jim Sturgess is a fantastic lead, Joe Anderson is a charismatic actor who is used perfectly as the funny sidekick who gets shipped off kinda character, and Martin Luther McCoy is a fantastic singer and a wonderful guitar player.

Cameos from people like Bono make for some entertaining moments, and I think that the scenes that are centered around Jude's strawberry art are fantastic. Some of the songs are really good, and when they are, you almost forget that they were played by the Beatles in the first place.

One in particular is the scene that incorporates 'Let it Be' into the death of Jo-Jo's brother. All in all, this movie cannot be good, and it cannot be bad, except for in the eyes of the beholder.

Some films are just good, and some are just bad, but this will either work for you or make you want to vomit. It won't win over everyone, but if you like it, good on you, and if you hate it, that's okay.

I personally will see it as a mildly amusing diversion and nothing more. It's not 'The Godfather', but it's not 'Twilight' either.