Across the Universe(2007)- User Reviews

Film: Across The Universe
Release Date: September 19, 2007
Directed by: Julie Taymor
Starring: Jim Sturgess, Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Campbell, TV Carpio, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther McCoy

2007 was, I think we'll all agree, an astounding year in the film world. A summer of threequels, and a fall full of pure, unabashed noir. So this bright, sunny, almost campy Beatles-inspired music from the mind of Julie Taymor was a delightful surprise.
A vast majority of people have openly balked at any movie Beatles-related in the past, not wanting the specific genre ruined by bad film. You can't blame them; who would bebrash enough to mess with the Fab Four?
Don't fret. I wouldn't recommend anything that ruined good music for anybody.
Artsy to the point of metaphoric, with a dose of sunshiny fun, Across The Universe tells the tale ofstar-crossed loversJude and Lucy (oh, yes, they did-I said campy, right?). Jude played by 21's Jim Sturgess, a Liverpool shipworker, is prepairing to "jump ship" in search of his long-lost father in America. The man, who turns out to be a simple janitor at Princeton, proves to be a dissapointment, but while there Jude meets Maxwell Kerrigan (Joe Campbell),a rambunctious, soon-to-be dropout. Max invites Jude home to dinner for Thanksgiving, introducing him to his younger sister, Lucy (the impeccable Evan Rachel Wood), whose boyfriend is overseas in Vietnam.It is a credit to both Sturgess and Wood that thier character'scompatability in a forgone conclusion as soon as they appear on screen together;you can just aseasily picture them as buddies than as lovers.Max, the typical burnout character, convinces Jude to run away to New York City;Lucy joins them over the summer, after the death of her boyfirend, and after she convinces her conservative mother "just for the summer before collage." The three of them rent a room from the airy flower child, Janis Joplin-esque Sadie (Sexy Sadie...get it?), whose interest in her guitarist "Jojo" (Martin Luther McCoy), quickly develops into romance. Thier world of tranquility comes crashing down in an avalanche when Max is drafted;this sends Lucy into the arms of the anti-war movement, much to Jude's dismay.
I know the names are hilarious, but the movie knows this, and you're supposed to laugh at them. (One character, the bisexual Prudence,was introduced when "she came in through the bathroom window," and they acually say it.) The film's faultslie inthe slightly confusing storyline. You are proably stratching your head as you read this, and with consummate reason, no matter how many times I tell you it's easy to hook onto once you are watching it. It's no wonder more people didn't see this modern indie classic during it's lengthy theatrical release.
And even it's defenders have to concur, Across The Universe is one of the most pretentiousfilms of the decade.It reeks of pretentiousness like yesterday's macaroni and cheese, just as much as people who name thier daughters Tatiana Elisabeth Chevonne. Combined with the same year's I'm Not There, Across The Universe made 2007 the year of overly-confidante film in my mind. But there is one glaring difference between ATU and INT: I'm Not There was weird. There is such a thing as too metaphoric when dealing with such a wide audience. I do not mean weird in the sense of, "Oh, look, there's a sunrise in the background, that symbolizes the beginning of his life as a father." I mean, weird in the sense of, "Hey, wait a minute, I thought that Heath Ledger was the one playing Bob Dylan? What's up with Cate Blanchett screaming at that woman?'
I don't mean to trash I'm Not There, because it was anexcellent movie with excellent performances . The point I'm trying to bring up is Across The Universe was easy to understand while being pretentious;it's a fine example of pretentious filmmaking for the average filmgoer, acually. That, for me, wasthis film's greatest accomplishment: the fact that ordinary people, who normally wouldn't have eventhought of seening such asimaliec film, happily did.I sat down withan extremely diverse group of people, a groupthat, frankly, youwouldn't imagine going into a Julie Taymor film, and can safely assume every single soul in that theatre enjoyed themselves.
That is the art of moviemaking, For any sceptics, go see the movie, and you'll know preciesly what I mean.