Across The Universe

A Beatles Soundtrack To the 60’s and 70’s

Fresh off the boat, Jude(Jim Sturgess) has just moved to the U.S. to meet his long lost Father. He finds him working as a custodian at a prestigious Ivy League college, but is taken under the wings of rebel student Max Carrigan(Joe Anderson). The two move to New York City to start a new life where they meet a band of misfit friends, and Max’s sister Lucy(Evan Rachel Wood). After a short time, Jude and Lucy fall in love and though the world around them is tumultuous, they find that Love is all they really need.

You may be thinking that Across The Universe is a movie all about the Beatles. It. Is. Not. What director Julie Taymor cleverly managed to do is make a movie comprised of different Beatles hits. Or maybe the story was written and she found Beatles songs to fit the scenario. Which came first the chicken or the egg, right? If you love the Beatles, you’ll enjoy the movie because every Beatles song has been spun into different arrangements that seep into your skin and make you want to sing and heck, even dance along. BUT the plot is W-E-A-K. My big movie pet-peeve: introducing a character that plays strongly in the beginning and then just sort of disappears by the end. This happens throughout the whole movie. Therefore though I enjoyed the music immensely, I found the movie to be disappointing. One high note was Jim Sturgess who played the lead role. Not only was his acting respectable, he sang some of the Beatles’ songs better than Lennon or McCartney. All in all, I’d say you’d enjoy Across The Universe the most if you just go buy the soundtrack, save yourself the agony of watching a movie that gives you plot-whip-lash.

Motherly Advice: I watched Across The Universe with my filters set on medium. The movie takes place during the Vietnam War and Civil Rights movement. So even with filters you still see some war violence, shooting, blowing up of cars, buildings, people, etc. And let’s not forget the drug use. Literally 10 minutes of the movie is through some funky filter where the picture is as if you are looking through a kaleidoscope indicating one can only assume, that they are all high. I didn’t see any drugs being smoked or snorted but you definitely get the picture. During a time of free love, I didn’t have to see any love scenes, but I did see two make-out scenes and one kind of risqué dancing scene. There’s one girl who is attracted to another girl, she never acts on her impulse but if you are going to watch this film with your family you may want to talk about this. To be perfectly blunt, this is an adult only film.

Trisha- in the sky with dimonds….(hehe, because my maiden name is Dimond).

Rated PG-13 for some drug content, nudity, sexuality, violence and language; 133 min; Directed by Julie Taymor