Across the Universe Review
By Lexi Feinberg
Magical History Tour
"Across The Universe" opens with an English bloke named Jude (Jim Sturgess) sitting on the beach and singing, "Is there anybody going to listen to my story?" On its own merits over Sunday brunch - probably not. As relayed by innovative director Julie Taymor ("Frida," "Lion King" on Broadway) with the aid of 33 Beatles songs? You betcha.
His story, which takes place during the drug-induced, politically tumultuous '60s, goes something like this: He's a Liverpool dock worker, with a shaggy-haired George Harrison vibe, who comes to Princeton to find his father. While in the States, he meets and befriends soon-to-be-dropout Max (Joe Anderson) and his luminous sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), with whom he engages in a passionate lust-to-love affair. They cruise on over to New York together and face a number of hot-button topics of the time: Detroit Riots, Vietnam War, LSD, The Eggman and the Walrus, yada yada.
What makes "Across The Universe" stand out (since its basic premise has been done to death, reincarnated, and done to death again) is that it's one of the most ambitious movie musicals in years. Similar to Jacques Demy's "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," the setup takes a little getting used to - for about 15 minutes, it's hard to tell if people spontaneously bursting into Fab Four tunes is going to be simply great or simply grating. But once it finds its rhythm, over its approximately two-hour-and-15-minute running time, it becomes easy to get sucked in and play along.
Since it's ultimately more of an event than a movie, "Across The Universe" feels, in a sense, like an interactive game. Beatles fans are invited to discover the references scattered throughout the film - and the examples are boundless. There's the super-obvious (even your toddler can figure out why some of the characters are named Jude, Lucy, Sadie and Prudence) to the super-clever ("I Want You" is used in a sequence where boys are wooed to join the army by intimidating Uncle Sam posters). Sure, there is a sense of the film frequently pinching its own cheek, but it is exciting to see what it will conjure up next.
The screenplay by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais goes the
"Shakespeare In Love" route a few times by dropping subtext into random conversations (an old man tells a story that includes the line "When I'm 64…") and Taymor always finds ways to spice up the formula - from using a bowling alley for a snazzy dance routine, to making the print look like an acid trip during a segment featuring Bono in his acting debut, to suddenly having the characters dance and make out naked underwater.
There is music aplenty, from crowd favorites "Come Together" and "Let It Be" to less mainstreams ditties like "I've Just Seen A Face" and "Oh Darling," and the actors make an effort not to bastardize the material too badly. Without a doubt, though, the award for "Best Voices" goes to the Joplin-channeling Dana Fuchs as Sadie, in a role that was made specifically for her, and Martin Luther as her soulful lover/bandmate JoJo. It's a true audio utopia whenever their invigorating takes boom from the speakers.
"Across The Universe" is the type of film that will blow some people away and leave others desperate to play their battered copy of "Abbey Road" and erase the memory of the past few hours. It's easy to understand both sides - this is the very definition of a polarizing film. But on the chance that you fall into the former camp, it's a nice way to re-explore the ever-familiar Beatles in a completely unfamiliar way.
