Across the Universe is one weird-ass movie. And truly, unless you’re a fellow movie reviewer who’s reading this so you can crib my style the chances are that you will absolutely hate this flick. So before we get into it I want to be totally clear with you: if you’re human, and somewhat normal, and don’t see 100 movies a year I’m betting this won’t be for you. Especially if you’re a guy. But if you’re a gal, and you like music… and you like romance… and you’re the kind, patient, and loving sort… well, okay, you might want to read on to get the gist of what we’re talking about here. This bad boy could be for you.
Explaining the story here isn’t easy, but I’ll start with the fact that there are three main characters. Jude (played very well by a fellow named Jim Sturgess) is a kid from Liverpool who leaves behind dreary shipbuilding work in search of answers and adventure in the United States. He’s befriended by a guy named Max (played very well be a fellow named Joe Anderson). Max has a sister played by Evan Rachel Wood, and the trio is formed with New York City as the primary setting of the film. Ah, one more thing before I forget — the whole movie is set to Beatles songs. The main characters sing them, the secondary characters sing them, and the extras sing and dance to them. No matter where you are in this movie you are never more than a few minutes away from a Beatles song. This little factor is the strength, weakness, and weirdness of the film. The last story point you’ll probably want to be equipped with is that Across the Universe, as it is set in the 1960’s, tackles the Vietnam War and the politics of the era.
I’ll lodge my complaints about the film first. The music is occasionally clearly stuffed into the narrative structure without regard to plausibility. I mean the Beatles didn’t make albums in the hopes that one day someone would come along and try to make one story out of their music and that shows. Pop music, as a three minute enterprise, adds much in the way of drama to every scene but it’s also exhausting and superfluous at times. The first 30 minutes of Across the Universe are also really rough as you try and get a grasp of the tone and feel of the film.
There is something interesting here too though. As far as the innovation factor this one is off the charts. I can’t imagine how this movie got greenlit because the concept pretty much doesn’t make sense. But there are moments of true greatness in this. It has three or four visually remarkable scenes that probably won’t be matched by any movie this year. All of the actors involved here are strong too. It very rarely feels like a cheesy musical and that’s a credit to everyone involved.
This movie is really Moulin Rouge! without as much story but with more in the way of music. It wanders along at times, and if you get bored easily when no storyline is apparent you will find yourself very frustrated here. But if you’re the sentimental type and a sucker for music you will find some value. At the end I guess I don’t really know what to make of this film. I admire the effort, and I think some sort of cult following could form around Across the Universe but there is simply no way it will be a financial or artistic success in the near term. And while that doesn’t affect how I feel about the film, it is sort of a sad deal. It would be nice if films that took big chances were rewarded even if in this case the gamble never fully pays off.
