The Beatles music + great visuals + a touching love story = my favorite movie? Oddly, no. How can this seemingly perfect equation be so off? I love The Beatles, I love trippy and artsy visuals. I love 'love'. The only thing that is missing is the glue of a cohesive story which could be in harmony with the lyrics of the classic songs of The Beatles, and unfortunately this is why Across the Universe fell apart for me.


The Plot

The story begins in the 1960s amongst the dock workers in Liverpool. One of the workers, Jude has plans to leave England and head off to America to meet his biological father. His father had known his mother while stationed in England during the war and had no idea that he had a child with Jude's mother.

His father works as a janitor at Princeton University. Upon Jude's arrival he meets a student named Max. They become fast friends and later that night Jude meets Max's sister Lucy. Lucy's high school sweetheart had gone off to war in Vietnam and died there.

The night that Max had taken Jude home to dinner to meet his family, he also announced that he would be dropping out of college. He and Jude move to NYC and share an apartment with a woman named Sadie, who is an aspiring rock star. Lucy also moves into the apartment and she and Jude become a couple.

Max soon receives his draft notice and he is off to Vietnam himself. His sister Lucy is now becoming more and more involved with the anti-war protests, and finds herself aligned with the very radical left-fringe. Her busy schedule with the anti-war people is becoming a problem for Jude and they break up.

So what happens to this small gang? Will Max survive the deadly jungles of the Vietnam War and get back to the USA? Will Sadie ever make it as a recording artist rock star? Can Lucy and Jude overcome their differences and come together again? All answers will be revealed...toward the end of the film.



The Analysis

After I had finished watching the film, it left me with a deep feeling of depression that I couldn't shake until the next day. This is regardless of whether the film had a happy ending or was a bummer. I'm not even sure why this emotion washed over me, except it had to do with watching Across the Universe.

The film's star is Jim Sturgess, a young British actor who portrayed Jude. Sturgess had done a decent job with what he had to work with. Jim had a number of songs to sing, including Girl, Revolution, I've Just Seen a Face and Something. I feel that Sturgess had the biggest burden with the way his role was written. Although there is a basic premise to the movie, the story would have to also accommodate the lyrics to the Beatle songs. For me, this was the main reason why the movie falls apart at just about every scene.

Evan Rachel Wood (Running With Scissors) portrays Lucy, Jude's love interest. She provided some memorable vocals to the amazing If I Fell, Blackbird and It Won't Be Long. Wood's appearance was easy on the eyes and her singing was easy on the ears. Her character seemed to possess an overabundance of naivety, but for me this came off as believable. While Jude warned her of the kind of dangerous people she was getting involved with the whole anti-war thing she was so passionate about, she chose to be oblivious until it was almost too late. Evan graced us with a tiny nude scene baring her left breast. This was my favorite part of the film.

The rest of the cast had contributed minimally in comparison to the "story" and the soundtrack. Joe Anderson portrayed Max, Lucy's brother. He was a spoiled rich kid who ended up in Vietnam after making the dumb decision of dropping out of college. His big numbers were Happiness is a Warm Gun and I Want You (She's So Heavy). His character's main purpose was to introduce Lucy to Jude, and then ironically and indirectly breaking them up by fighting the war in Vietnam. This is Dana Fuchs first major motion picture; she plays Sadie, a working club musician trying to make the big time. She has an apartment in NYC, where Jude and Max ended up after leaving his home town. Fuch's own real life kind of mirrors her role here in Across the Universe, as she left home early and moved to NYC in order to try to make it big in music.

I admit that I was expecting a lot from this movie. I read a ton of great reviews, and had no reason to doubt that this would be a wonderful experience. My high hopes only left me with a long way to fall with how disappointed I was with the end result of this film. Have you seen the 1978 film Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band? That old corny story had more coherency than this jumbled up mess. I know that I've said it before, but my biggest beef with movies is to have to pretend something is there that isn't. In this case, the viewer must pretend that the story makes sense. The only way to do this is to fill in the gaps with your own imagination. For instance, watching Jude sing Revolution to the anti-war group was very frustrating for instance. You know what he should have been saying, but because he's singing Lennon's lyrics it ends up looking silly and unconvincing.

Even the inclusion of some big musical names taking on some small roles did not help Across the Universe at all. People like Jeff Beck, Joe Cocker and Bono each performed a song and had a small role. Jeff Beck and Joe Cocker were kind of entertaining, but Bono's rendition of I Am the Walrus was creepy.

Was there anything good about the film? Yes, two things. I rather enjoyed Dana Fuch's performances of some rare Beatle songs, like Why Don't We Do It In The Road? and Helter Skelter. Fuch's and her band perform some grand versions of some of The Beatles' more obscure songs.


The Blu-Ray Difference

The video was just about perfect, presented here in 1080p AVC Mpeg-4 encode, in the original aspect ratio. Across the Universe contains some imaginative and color visuals that make for an ideal showcase for your blu-ray player and HDTV. Visually, prepare to be dazzled.

The audio was impressive with its 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. I am still waiting to hear what a 7.1 soundtrack would sound like on my system. I hear it within a couple of video games I have on the PS3, but outside of that - not just yet. This is a musical after all, and the audio fills the room from all of the speakers. There is also 5.1 Spanish and Portuguese.

The extras were mostly a litter of featurettes. The first is called Creating the Universe, a 29 minute long explanation from director Julie Taymor of how she had created this two hour art show. There are some semi-insightful glimpses into the behind the scenes area.

There was another one called Stars of Tomorrow which focuses on the actors in the film, and how well each of them can sing. It lasts about 27 minutes. All About the Music is next, and it focuses on, well, the music. It lasts about 15 minutes. There are two more featurettes that talk about the visual effects and this.

There is only one feature here that is exclusive to the Blu-Ray version, it's called Don Nace Art Gallery. You get to flip through these crude sketches which had become scenes in the film while you listen to the cast sing stereo versions of the songs Because, Strawberry Fields and Don't Let Me Down.

All the featurettes were presented in 1080i video, which is a nice treat. There is also a commentary option with Julie Taymor (director) and Music Producer Elliot Goldenthal.





Viewing Format: Blu-Ray


Recommended:
No

Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age