Across the Universe (2007)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Alexander D

  
  Dreadfully misunderstood romantic musical is half love story, half psychedelic acid trip, all brought to you singularly by the Beatles. Set in the 1960s against anti-war protest, in England, Vietnam, and the United States, it tells of six friends: Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), her lover… More
  Dreadfully misunderstood romantic musical is half love story, half psychedelic acid trip, all brought to you singularly by the Beatles. Set in the 1960s against anti-war protest, in England, Vietnam, and the United States, it tells of six friends: Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), her lover Jude (Jim Sturgess), her brother Maxwell (Joe Anderson), rock singer Sadie (Dana Fuchs), her guitarist Jo-Jo (Martin Luther McCoy), and their shy friend Prudence (T.V. Carpio). As a lifelong Beatles fan, I more than enjoyed seeing every major character in this film (without forgetting the foul-mouthed Doctor Robert or the odd Mr. Kite) taking his or her name from a character in a song by the Fab Four. Furthermore, the soundtrack was phenomenally covered, for the most part. Even Bono from U2 makes an extended cameo appearance as a drugged-up, Ozzy-esque portrait of Doctor Robert, with a stellar delivery of "I Am the Walrus". The only two disappointments as far as the music goes were Sturgess's croaking performance of "Revolution" and Eddie Izzard's disturbing twist on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite". The musical numbers, as well, were utterly fantastic. Many of them use the motion-capture animation used in films such as BEOWULF and THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, to create the interchanging impressions of experiencing a dream or a drug trip; combined with blurred, illusional visionaries of nude swimming (a la the scenes from Tim Burton's BIG FISH), the effect is odd but fantastical. By far the most unpredictable number is "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", which according to this film means "Uncle Sam Wants You (Lady Liberty's So Heavy)". Whether you are a Beatles fan or not, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE should be easily entertaining. One which is barely familiar with the music of the Beatles will most likely enjoy this music for what it ultimately is. The songs, even for a Beatles fan, are often hard to recognize, though lovable, because the singers twist them into something of their own work, while in turn keeping the Beatles original tone, whether somber or exubriant. Main points go to this film for its unusual ability to alter classic rock music into seemingly original modern rock; I hope this becomes a Broadway show in the near future, in which case I will make every effort to see it. Full Review Coming Soon

• Chris W

  
  Amazing film. Just the whole concept of crafting a film based around the songs of The Beatles, and having characters named after characters from their songs seems really cool and unique to me. There's shades of autobiographical stuff in here, but it's mostly about capturing… More
  Amazing film. Just the whole concept of crafting a film based around the songs of The Beatles, and having characters named after characters from their songs seems really cool and unique to me. There's shades of autobiographical stuff in here, but it's mostly about capturing the 60s through the music of that decade's (probably) most representative band. Essentialyl it's the story of a Brit named Jude who comes to the States, becoems friends with a guy named Max, and falls in love with his suster, all the while experienceing many of the highs and lows that went on such as VIetnam, war protests, the counterculture, and what not. Ordinarily the story wouldn't be that impressive, as a musical or not, but the way this film is done, mostly thanks to Julie Taymor's brilliant visionary directing (some incredible artsy sequences) and some great renditions of classic Beatles tunes (complete with many injokes and references throughout in general) make this truly something special. You don't HAVE to be a Beatles fan to enjoy this, but it would certainly help. As long as you can appreciate the music and the time period, and don't mind lots of musical numbers (some of them very trippy and surreal), you should be fine.

• Idrees K

  
  Good acting and an interesting concept, but the plot was dreadful, drawn out and I just plain found myself bored.

• Drake T

  
  A musically and visually enticing experience, ATU is a simple classical romance of two young lovers set in the 1960's told through a mosaic of beautifully choreographed performances. If you don't appreciate the music and art, then you're watching the wrong film.

• Conner R

  
  It's got to be my favorite "musical" out there. Thankfully it doesn't have the corny aftertaste of most like it, but this pays as much attention to its visuals as it does its music. It's one thing to hear a song, but when you can truly see it come to life,… More
  It's got to be my favorite "musical" out there. Thankfully it doesn't have the corny aftertaste of most like it, but this pays as much attention to its visuals as it does its music. It's one thing to hear a song, but when you can truly see it come to life, that's something else. What's kind've crazy about the movie is that I definitely prefer a lot of the cover songs to their original counterparts. Julie Taymor's vision is unmatched when it comes to this type of movie, Baz Luhrmann pales in comparison. This is maybe one of the few musicals that happens to highly benefit from being movie rather than a stage production. The performances from Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood are incredibly genuine and realistic, which is really what you need when you're dealing with characters that break into song every ten minutes.

• Matt G

  
  It was okay. The songs were great! A little long though... Had me entertained throughout though. Grade: B-

• Jennifer D

  
  Incredibly colorful and creative!! I mean I couldn't make an entire movie out of songs written years before the movie. But the idea is revolutionary. And the colors and remakes of the songs are incredible. AC rating: Commentary was with the director and composer and it's… More
  Incredibly colorful and creative!! I mean I couldn't make an entire movie out of songs written years before the movie. But the idea is revolutionary. And the colors and remakes of the songs are incredible. AC rating: Commentary was with the director and composer and it's amazing to see how the film came from concept to execution especially with basically a bunch of no name actors. Loved it.

• Ross C

  
  High School Musical for adults.

• Richard C

  
  mostly a good movie but some stupid parts and I like most of the songs but I hated the mr. kite song. B

• Greg S

  
  A romance between a Liverpudlian and a New England WASP during the tumultuous 1960s is illustrated using 30 Beatles songs. Creates a surprisingly coherent story considering the fact that the plot had to be constructed around the songs rather than the other way around; the vocal… More
  A romance between a Liverpudlian and a New England WASP during the tumultuous 1960s is illustrated using 30 Beatles songs. Creates a surprisingly coherent story considering the fact that the plot had to be constructed around the songs rather than the other way around; the vocal performers are pretty good, and several of the production numbers are knockouts ("Come Together," with an appearance by Joe Cocker, is a favorite).

• Jonathan H

  
  Across The Universe is a prime example of style over substance -- of ambition over execution. As a conceptual experiment, Julie Taymor's Beatles musical is undoubtedly fascinating. Unfortunately, it was a huge letdown. The plot is clichéd and razor thin (it's difficult to… More
  Across The Universe is a prime example of style over substance -- of ambition over execution. As a conceptual experiment, Julie Taymor's Beatles musical is undoubtedly fascinating. Unfortunately, it was a huge letdown. The plot is clichéd and razor thin (it's difficult to care for any of the characters, especially the nominal Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix avatars played by Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther McCoy, respectively); the dialogue is horrid, which led to poor performances, and the nonsensical, showy visuals were dumbfounding and did nothing to push the narrative along (one character, named "Prudence," enters a scene through a bathroom window! Get it!?!). Indeed the dramatic content of Across The Universe is close to nill. It's all just an excuse to stretch out a canvas to spill visual techniques upon. The biggest atrocity, however, is the heavy-handed, surface portrayal of the 60s. I understand that it's a challenge to capture the enormity of 60s politics. History is complicated. It takes intellectual courage and moral honesty to get into it. But this film is a dreadful toe-tapping into the pool of the past, such a crass commercial appropriation of complex struggle -- as if the 60s, and the Beatles for that matter, were not commodified enough. It's just so cheap. No complexity, no challenge, just pure spectacle. But that doesn't stop the movie from piling it on, trying to address selling out, resisting the draft, fighting the man, running away from home, and every other development that merited a Life magazine cover between 1963 and 1970. With no narrative substance to be found, the film comes off as not as much a "movie" as an eye-candy spectacular in the vein of Cirque de Soleil. In the end, Across The Universe is hobbled by its vaguely insulting comic-book version of the 60s and by a humorlessness that can only come from talented people convinced they're creating work for the ages. I'm sad to report that they haven't.

• Cassie H

  
  Love this movie!!! Jim Sturgess is so cute and has a wonderful voice, as does Evan Rachel Wood. Just a great movie. :)

• Nani V

  
  I have to admit, after watching it again for the second time I enjoyed it much more. The film itself takes you onto this beautiful journey, literally. The singing worked well; it wasn't too much to where you got sick and tired of it. There were many interesting characters in it… More
  I have to admit, after watching it again for the second time I enjoyed it much more. The film itself takes you onto this beautiful journey, literally. The singing worked well; it wasn't too much to where you got sick and tired of it. There were many interesting characters in it as well. Definitely worth a watch!! I'm adding this to my favorites list.

• Red L

  
  I am totally impressed with the way the movie was written to use so many Beatles songs in its plot. I grew up with the Beatles, and can sing along with many of the songs, so I quite enjoyed this movie. I've seen it three times now.

• Daniel P

  
  This is a hard 3.5, and I think it all comes down to Eddie Izzard's terrible "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite". Without that brutal number (and Bono's odd-ball lead-up to it), this would likely be at least a four-star film, but it was just a little too ambitious.… More
  This is a hard 3.5, and I think it all comes down to Eddie Izzard's terrible "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite". Without that brutal number (and Bono's odd-ball lead-up to it), this would likely be at least a four-star film, but it was just a little too ambitious. Wow, that first paragraph made it sound like I didn't like this movie. Not the case. I liked it a lot, and its interpretation of so many Beatles songs to tell a simple love-in-the-time-of-Vietnam story is an amazing feat in and of itself. Though it fell when it tried to do too much, it soared in other places when the music matched the moment. Jim Sturgess is an excellent up-and-coming talent (and Evan Rachel Wood holds her own) in this highly enjoyable and by times riveting musical drama. The shots are inventive and the textbook story is better for it. A very good film that was almost great.

• First L

  
  Across the Universe is juvenile, slavish to it's concept (to the point of being silly), and (thoroughly) poorly acted. As far as musicals go, it's fairly average, but I don't think they're doing the Beatles any favors here. About halfway through, the plot loses… More
  Across the Universe is juvenile, slavish to it's concept (to the point of being silly), and (thoroughly) poorly acted. As far as musicals go, it's fairly average, but I don't think they're doing the Beatles any favors here. About halfway through, the plot loses any cohesiveness it may of had, and starts incorporating nonsense to fit in songs ("Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite") that logically wouldn't work in a storyline of any sort. Joe Anderson portrays Max as if he were a hammy Brando understudy, sometimes to embarrassing effect. Trying to form a cohesive storyline using only Beatles songs is a daunting task, and maybe it would've been better not to have bothered.

• paul s

  
  Backwards engineering a movie using the thick Beatles songbook as a reference is a novel undertaking; at times it works very well here, but at others the strain is transparant. For the first 15-20 minutes I was completely underwhelmed - classic songs sung by neophytes with… More
  Backwards engineering a movie using the thick Beatles songbook as a reference is a novel undertaking; at times it works very well here, but at others the strain is transparant. For the first 15-20 minutes I was completely underwhelmed - classic songs sung by neophytes with questionable resources (Prudences "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was almost painful to watch - and her charactor the most superflous - as if she was simply there to introduce songs that wouldn't have made the list otherwise, or as a little wink wink - fer example: "how did she get in here?".... she came in through, well, you know the rest.) But I have to admit that after the first 20 minutes I was entertained - it was like watching a very strange music video, complete with cameos by Joe Cocker, Bono, and Eddie Izzard (masterfully funny as Mr. Kite). However, even during the last half of the film, there were segments that went on too long - although the interplay between JoJo and Sadie were magical, as was JoJo's rendition of While My Guitar. Many an inspired moment, but ultimately dragged down by its own format; the truly great moments raise this to a 7, otherwise it could easily float as a 5, as it lacked continuity in places and had the aforementioned superflous charactors (while others were left underexplored).

• Lorenzo v

  
  Although I expected this movie to be good, I was still impressed by how brilliantly executed it all was. Instead of just having the characters sporadically (and awkwardly) break out into song, Director Julie Taymor seamlessly mixes the spoken dialog and the music. What's even… More
  Although I expected this movie to be good, I was still impressed by how brilliantly executed it all was. Instead of just having the characters sporadically (and awkwardly) break out into song, Director Julie Taymor seamlessly mixes the spoken dialog and the music. What's even more impressive is how easily she takes the movie from realistic imagery of the 60's to the surreal and back again. What's best about this movie is that the story itself could have stood on its own, but combined with the music of the Beatles it just made it into something fantastic. I don't think you really have to be a Beatles fan to enjoy this movie either, in fact a lot of the songs I had never heard until I saw this movie, and some of their more familiar songs are used in unexpected ways, but they always work. "Come together" was the best sequence ever. Who knew that hobos and pimps can sing eh?

• Craig S

  
  <u><b>Directed by:</u></b> Julie Taymor. <u><b>Starring:</u></b> Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther, Eddie Izzard, Bono. <i><< "We're in the middle of a revolution Jude. And what are you… More
  <u><b>Directed by:</u></b> Julie Taymor. <u><b>Starring:</u></b> Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther, Eddie Izzard, Bono. <i><< "We're in the middle of a revolution Jude. And what are you doing? Doodles and cartoons?"..."Well I'm sorry I'm not the man with the mega-phone, but this is what I do." >></i> I really don't know what my final verdict is. Across the Universe is a mish-mash of psychedelic and visually stunning sequences along with over-choreographed, misfired sequences...and sloppy, unfocused and uninteresting characters and ideas along with shades of brilliance in what is said and done. I'm torn for now, but I don't think I'll be seeing it again...at least it has got me wanting to listen to more Beatles songs. Full review coming soon.

• Robert C

  
  I am not normally a big "musical" fan, but I found myself intrigued by this film ever since I started seeing the trailers for it over a year ago. While not a BIG fan of the Beatles, I appreciate their music and there is a certain sentimental / nostalgic connection to… More
  I am not normally a big "musical" fan, but I found myself intrigued by this film ever since I started seeing the trailers for it over a year ago. While not a BIG fan of the Beatles, I appreciate their music and there is a certain sentimental / nostalgic connection to many of their songs. THAT along with some of the amazing visuals that were shown in the trailer, were enough to peak my interest. Sadly, most of the good, visually creative stuff was shown in the trailers (and primarily encompassed the last half of the film). The rest it was predictable at best. The "good stuff" however, was really well done and almost worth sitting through this 2+ Hour film for. I wish I could say the same about the rest of it but with few exceptions (Dana Fuchs & Matin Luther), even the singing was mediocre at best. If they would have incresed the (truly impressive) visuals to encompass more of the story, this could have been an amazing film. As it stands, it is just "ok".

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