Across The Universe Hits Video: Lennon and Harrison Glad To Be Dead
Last week, 
I rented Across the Universe — y’know, that new Beatles movie that doesn’t have the Beatles in it. Or any stars. Or a coherent storyline. I’m still reeling from how much I disliked this movie. And part of the reason I’m so pissed off is because there’s another part of me that really enjoyed it. The part that likes anything involving the Beatles. The part that couldn’t help being sucked in.
I don’t even know where to begin. The movie is so all over the place it’s impossible to talk about it in an organized fashion. For the uninitiated let me give you the conceit of the film: “Hey, what if we make a movie that only has about 40 lines of dialog and fill in the rest with lyrics from unassociated Beatles songs?”
Did they pull it off? Well, let’s examine the plot and you can decide. At this point, I’d normally say SPOILER ALERT to those of you who still want to see the film, but that would be like giving a warning about a possible fecal odor to someone who was bent on diving headfirst into a pile of manure.
The Plot And Characters Of Across the Universe
The movie relies upon ridiculous archetypal characters, hoping that their mere recognizability will spare the producers from actually having to flesh out their identities through writing. That works out great because the script is not about Mean Mr. Mustard or Maxwell Silver Hammer and, therefore, with little exception, the filmmakers can’t actually use the Beatles lyrics to tell us anything about these characters.
Here we go:
Jude (a dude from Liverpool who looks like a ragged Paul McCartney, acts like John Lennon, and sings like Ewan MacGregor) leaves England to find his long lost American Dad.
Once there, he meets Max — a Princeton student who is James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause. (His stodgy dad is tearing him apart too, but instead of being played by the dad Jim Backus, dad is played by Doc Connors from the Spider-Man movies. Oh, and Max’s uncle is Mr. Noodle, but I digress.) Anyway, Jude and Max become instant best friends for no clear reason and Max drops out of school so they can both go to New York.
Once in New York, they find a loft for rent from a very sensual landlady named Sadie (or “Sexy Sadie”). Sadie, by the way, is Janis Joplin. Why wouldn’t she be?
The producers apparently thought there weren’t enough disparate elements so they also added —I shit you not— an Asian lesbian cheerleader who runs away from home, goes to New York, and crashes with Jude and Max after she “comes in through the bathroom window.” You could eliminate her from the movie completely and nothing would change, except that her name is Prudence and if you cut her then you wouldn’t be able to sing “Dear Prudence” which apparently was a song the producers really wanted in the movie.
Moving on, Janis Joplin Sadie has a black guitarist boyfriend coming to town. Any guesses? That’s right, it’s “JoJo.” And when I say “JoJo,” I mean, of course, Jimi Hendrix.
Around this time, Max’s little sister Lucy comes to live with big brother so that Jude and she can fall in love. This is like 40 minutes in, which is a problem considering this is supposed to be a love story. But you have to admire the producers’ restraint. Her character’s name was originally just “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and/or love interest.”
Then Max get’s drafted and the best scene in the movie happens when we see the enlistment office to the tune of “I Want You/She’s So Heavy.” That scene actually takes the lyrics to a Beatles song and recreates them in a way that advances plot. It’s one of only two or three songs in the movie that does that:
O.K. back to the crap. Before Max goes off to war he, Lucy, and Jude go to a hip NY party thrown by “Dr. Robert.” Loser Beatle fans like me get a little hard from that reference because Dr. Robert is a Lennon Murphy John Lennon song about the dentist who first gave John and George acid at a party. But “Dr. Robert” is NOT a dentist. Instead this Dr. Robert is, apparently, Ken Kesey in full Merry Prankster form, and he’s played by none other than Bono. I can’t fully convey to you how much Bono sucked in this movie. The only thing worse than his American accent was his version of “I Am The Walrus.” In fairness, it did suck slightly less than U2’s version of “Helter Skelter” which is maybe the worst cover in the history of rock.
Dr. Robert takes Max, Lucy, and Jude cross country to meet another sixties acid-dropping radical, Dr. Timothy Leary. But they don’t call him Dr. Leary. They call him “Dr. Geary,” and it’s Eddie Izzard and he sings a trippy version of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.”
“Wait!” say those of you who enjoy parallel structure. If Ken Kesey was “Dr. Robert,” why not make Dr. Leary “Mr. Kite”? Or if Dr. Leary is “Dr. Geary” then why wasn’t Ken Kesey, “Ken Gesey?”
I have no idea. You might as well ask how the movie managed to make Eddie Izzard unfunny or why you would need two trip out scenes in one flick or how a hot Asian, lesbian cheerleader can’t seem to get laid in the middle of New York during the age of free love.
Anyway, Max goes off to ‘nam and gets a head injury which doesn’t seem to do much more than make him look like Kurt Cobain. (pre-suicide.) Then Janis and Jimi break up and reunite. Then Jude and Lucy break up because she starts hanging out too much with Jerry Rubin, or Tom Hayden, or Abbie Hoffman or whoever the bearded vaguely Semitic radical was supposed to be. Then they get back together when Jude sings All You Need Is Love on the roof like The Beatles did in their Get Back performance. And Prudence smiles while she continues to wonder what the fuck she’s doing in the movie.
And as much as it all sucked I watched it all. Twice.
Why? Because the Beatles wrote some of the greatest songs of all time. Most of the new arrangements were absolutely perfect. And many of the visuals were striking as well.
And that’s really the reason I’m so mad. So much care and thought went into this movie in so many areas that it makes all the thoughtless, stupid decisions that much more offensive.
And you can bet everything you have that when it comes on cable I will watch it again while cursing the screen.
Check out some more Gladstone. HERE and HERE.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
But the real question is, how is this movie after smoking a whole lot of weed? I mean, if weed can make “A Hard Days Night” into “Citizen Kane,” this movie has got to have a shot.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
“jojo” strutting down the streets during “come together” was one of the best parts of that movie. an explosion and a well-placed tit shot would’ve made that the best scene ever.
eddie izzard was neat, too. i wish iwould’ve gotten to see more of him up in that movie. and some tits.
i’m sure there’s some subliminal or overlapping message in this movie somewhere, and i looked for it, but couldn’t find it. oh well; nothing some tits can’t fix.
know what? that’s a neat trick. tits seem to make a lot of things better. maybe if i saw some tits at WORK, then THAT would be better. i’ll give it shot after lunch…
EDIT: scratch that tit thing—i just got fired…
February 20th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
As I started reading this review, I started planning to drop this movie from my Netflix queue. By the end, I considered moving it up. Yet I have a feeling that if I watch it and hate it, I’ll blame you for making it sound bad, yet compelling. Honestly, it just sounds like a modern remake of Hair with less nudity and more lesbians.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton aren’t in this?
Gyp!
February 20th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
I’d recommend watching it if only for the art direction in the music sequences. As most theatre students were, I had Julie Taymor (the directrix) and her genius crammed down my throat throughout College, and couldn’t be more convinced of it. She didn’t write the script, so it could very well be terrible, and sounds like it is. But she is a PHENOMENAL director and conductor of massive performance art pieces. Same lady who made the Lion King awesome again and Titus Andronicus, one of the finest adaptations of Shakespeare ever put to film.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I read the entire thing and the preceding comments… and I’ve never felt more left out…ever
February 20th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Yes Mike, some of that was good, but then again I hold her responsible for direction such as:
Jude sings Revolution angrily to the tom hayden, jerry rubin, abbie hoffiman guy and then sings “if you go carrying pictures of chairman mao…” and then points to a picture of chairman mao on the wall.
some of the performances were as uninspiring as that.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
You know what was only slightly worse than Bono’s rendition of ‘I Am the Walrus’?
Bono’s entire career up until that point.
Someone I know described this film as being as if someone who knew nothing about the Beatles or the 1960s took a bunch of polaroids from the era and attempted to string them together into a film based on nothing but nostalgia and sentimentality. I think that’s a pretty apt description. Don’t get me wrong usually I wouldn’t have a problem with pointless nostlgia, I mean it’s THE BEATLES for christ sake. But everything in this film is so squeaky clean and cleshed it’s almost insulting to anyone who actually lived through it. In fact probably insulting to anyone who isn’t a giant walking stereotype.
I’m going to have to agree with Swaim and say the only saving grace of the film was the art direction in (some of) the musical sequences. Strawberry Fields was pretty trippy in abstract yet compelling way. I couldn’t tell you how it was relevant though.
And what was the point of introducing the lesbian character when they weren’t even going to follow that up?
Oh that’s right, there’s that throw-away line about her screwing an acrobat. I suppose that clears everything up.
It’s not just that this film is plotless, the film could have been effective as one long random acid trip (see I’m Not There) it’s that the plot is so pathetically weak it’s unforgiveable. But I too like you will probably watch it again when I see it available on DVD. Because I’m so tragically easy to market to.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
This article should have been called ‘Across the Universe - Another reason Paul McCartney wishes he’d died in 1967′.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I highly enjoyed the movie, and yet I agree with all of your points. The non-subtle references to Beatles history and overall blandness of the characters should make it a pretty mediocre movie. Yet something makes me keep coming back to it - 3 times to date. Weird.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
I hear that Tarytahn. The jude actor incredible likable, most of the music great, and many of the visuals striking, which makes all the weaknesses more maddening.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
BostonRob: Smoking a whole lot of weed and watching this movie if fucking incredible.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
the first time I saw julie taymor’s Titus, I immediately watched it again afterward. almost 3 hours long, but I liked it that much. the first time I saw Across the Universe it was like 2001… nails, being driven into my eyes. (with apologies to Crow T. Robot)
February 20th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
If weed does that for you, I highly recommend shrooms or… well, acid, obviously.
enjoy
February 20th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
And yes, I am indeed from the Netherlands.
Thank you gedoogbeleid (look that one up, if you’re confused)
February 20th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Bono sucked BIG TIME!!! And I also think it wasn’t necessary to put Salma Hayek on the role of a sexy nurse, when at that time the stereotype of a sexy nurse was a blonde one who looked like M. Monroe!
February 20th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
no, it wasn’t necessary, but can you really be against Salma Hayek as a sexy anything?
and boy did THAT scene sucked with the priests doing backflips to “mother superior jumped the gun.”
February 20th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I was so disappointed in this movie that I almost vomitted all over my hipster roommates’ heads for hyping it up so much and convincing me to watch it.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:00 am
I think I’ll just watch Help! again, instead.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:43 am
Tragically, I love anything Beatles related, so I was eager to see it. I was browsing movie trailers one day and I saw the title “Across the Universe”. I was shocked. Could it be possible? Have my hopes and dreams become a reality? Is there actually a Beatles musical that could potentially make me have a sensory overload due to the awesomeness? No, the answer is no. Is it a guilty pleasure? Yes, if you can find a way to not let the dancing businessmen, the bouncing priest, Bono, random white asian chicks floating on water, beatles mullet, retarded plot, or the fact that Lucy is kind of a bitch bother you. If anything, this film is redeemed by the awesome “With A Little Help From My Friends” scene.
February 21st, 2008 at 5:18 am
Really? hard to believe.i heard this news times from many friends playing on a tall dating site~~~~Tallmingle.com~~~,i did not believe, i think that they are know nothing but dating and love.
i am wrong
February 21st, 2008 at 7:38 am
I just added what I think is the best scene in the movie.
February 21st, 2008 at 8:36 am
Gladstone said:
> can you really be against Salma Hayek as a sexy anything?
Yes. She’s certainly not bad looking, but not nearly good enough to make up for how annoying she is.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:57 am
Really? I can’t imagine how annoying that would have to be. That would have to be like burning your house down annoying.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:44 am
Wait, so the review and the comments make this sound like Across the Universe turned out exactly like the Sgt. Pepper film did.
I had a hunch this might be the case, is it at all accurate?
February 21st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
hmmm. In some ways it’s better. In other ways it’s worse.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
The only way I was able to make it through this movie was by being stoned out of my mind.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:17 pm
When did this turn into the F’n AV Club?
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:22 am
The stoned AV club.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Not to mention Jojo manages to find a job and a place to live in the hour that he first came to the city. But come on hes singing with pimps, give him a break.
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I watched the first 30-35 minutes a few nights ago before shutting it off. There was a movie in there somewhere, but I’ll be damned if I know where. One hippie bullshit cliche after another, and Evan Rachel Wood’s character was as likable as a toddler prone to lots and lots of crying.
I wouldn’t have lasted that long without the music, but the movie did little to deserve credit for that. And now that you confirmed that the lesbian cheerleader did nothing for the story (which I suspected would be the case)…I’m pissed. Wasn’t the movie longer than 2 hours? And the jackass director (sorry Swaim) didn’t have the sense to cut it?
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
right. I would have changed sadie’s name to prudence and then they could have cut asian lady and still sung Dear Prudence.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:53 pm
This movie was perfect.
The acting was astounding, they played there characters perfectly. The singing was incredible. I still cant believe I am saying this, but I enjoy every single song in that movie more then the original. The visuals were beyond this world. The plot was fun, and the songs fit in very nicely.
My only quam, was that it wasn’t longer, with alot more songs that could have been easily added in.
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
From the original script treatment dated October 9th, 2003:
So there’s this girl, and she has a hand, and there’s this guy, and he wants to hold it, so he sings this song, and the song says “I want to hold your hand?” And then he’s feeling down, and he appreciates you being around, and he needs to get his feet back on the ground, and then he sings “Won’t you please, please help me?” Then there’s band, and it’s run by a sergeant, and his name is Pepper and it’s a lonely hearts band, and they sing “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”…
My God, this stuff writes itself!!Academy Awards, here I come!!
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Why do I hear Kinkajou’s post in the voice Chris Farley used on “The Chris Farley Show” on SNL?
“Remember when you were with the Beatles, and you sang that song about the love you take being equal to the love you make? Is that true?”
Paul McCartney “Um, yeah, yeah, it is, Chris…”
Farley “That’s AWESOME!”
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I’ve walked out on two movies in my life , this one and Battlefield Earth. I paid two dollars to see this movie on the big screen and I left after the whole “benefit of Mr. Kite”.
I gave Battlefield Earth more of my time than this garbage. I honestly think it has ruined my taste for movies over all.
February 22nd, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I am so flattered that director Julie Taymor reads my blog. That’s you as Darthmat, right Julie?
February 22nd, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Hey! Darthmat got a quam! Granted, it’s his only quam, but dammit, I want a quam!!
February 25th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Who were the producers nodding at, exactly? I mean, certainly aging folks actually from the era would knowingly be disgusted by this garbage. So it has to be us youngins who listen to the music still, and who the producers expected to smile coyly and look around for other super geniuses to see who else got the reference (maybe a lady…score!). This makes me sick…it’s offensive to anyone who knows anything about anything. The fact that I dislike the beatles notwithstanding, of course. They could have made this movie with any era-past band and it would have sucked sucked sucked. You can’t make movies that play like a concept album movie set to your fucking ipod with no discernible OK from the band…just can’t
February 25th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I would agree with you completely Jackson except you dislike The Beatles so everything about you is, therefore, wrong.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
OK, dislike may be harsh…I listen to them on occasion. I just feel they are absurdly overrated. Kind of like Nirvana in the sense that they’re really good and barrier-breakers and all, just not the demi-gods everyone seems to hold them up as
February 25th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
i totally agree with this…. i couldn’t stop watching this movie and the entire time i was like “what the F am i watching?”….it was idiotic and brilliant at the same time. a true theatrical train-wreck. and as offended as i was with how stupid this movie was, and no matter how pissed i was when it was over that i just wasted an entire evening on it instead of watching the law & order marathon on USA, i’ll watch it again and again when it’s on cable…..hell, i’ll probably buy the dvd, because after downloading the soundtrack on iTunes, i just can’t get it out of my head. i seriously need a life.
February 25th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
You left out the panty wetting performance of Revolution.
February 26th, 2008 at 1:39 am
::shrugs::
I wont deny I enjoyed the movie - but I’m also a huge Beatles fan so anything Beatles or Beatles inspired I probably own.
Even if I hadn’t liked it though - Paul McCartney, Olivia Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono all supposedly approved of it… so it can’t be *that* bad can it?
February 26th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
You just stated the problem right there, that girl: Yoko Ono approved of it.
To quote Stan Lee, ’nuff said.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:28 am
I would really like to see any of you (especially the dumbass who wrote the article to begin with) try to take 30-some songs and make them into a movie. Or better yet, take anything and make it into a movie. All of the components of this movie were dead on and as for your complaint about the character’s names: that was the whole point of the movie; with regards to the Beatles and other historical references: that was the whole point of the the movie. Yes, there was no amazing character development, but watch the movie for what it is: a re-interpreted music video with a semi-plot in the background. In the future, don’t bash something and in the last sentence say that it was somehow great, that’s just not good writing technique and gives away the fact that you don’t actually know what you’re talking about. If you hate the movie so much, don’t watch it. Once, you get your degree in film or make a movie that is able to keep people coming back to watch it over and over, or make millions or even a single dollar from your script writing or directing abilities, then you can criticize film, but please do it with some class (writing a bunch of unfounded bullshit defeats the purpose of film analysis). Until then, keep your mouth shut.
March 2nd, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Savepeace.
Yes, it must be very hard to take 30 random songs and make a linear story out of them. That’s why you shouldn’t do it. It was a terrible idea.
And I didn’t change my mind, I was acknowledging that i’m such a Beatles fan that I can sit through crap like this and still enjoy it.
And you can tell from the comments above that most people agreed with me so to call my comments unfounded or bullshit as if I’m just some crazy lone jackass is somewhat disingenuous.
Also, from your comments, can i assume that you have made many successful movies?
And if not, then I guess you NEVER criticize any film you see?
March 4th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
What I don’t get is how you hate a movie and watch it twice? I love the beatles, but if thier music was the score of Blair witch project, I still would have never wanted to see that crappy movie. It was a complete psycadelic beatles trip movie, whats wrong with that? The plot is Moved along by the songs, and no it’s not the departed, infact most of the dialogue is song lyrics, it’s very inventive, how it brings life to charcters of beatles songs, Maxwell was fucking perfect, a crazy ass white boy. Using parts of the songs and visualizing them was fucking genius. It’s an art film, it’s not a drama, it’s not a hollywood blockbuster, it was beautiful art, set to great renditions of beatles music.
March 5th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Gladstone,
Thanks for responding to my comment, the fact that you took offense makes me think that you agree that your criticism is unfounded and based solely on your personal taste and not on any in depth, unbiased analysis of the plot, imagery and film techniques. Good job calling me a mindless drone who repeats everything that some crazy lone jackass writes; I criticize every movie I see, not only that, I also support my comments with reasons other than that I simply don’t like it or other people said it too so it must be true.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:09 am
My comments were supported. You can’t make up for a mindless script by saying, “that was the point. It was supposed to be a pseudo plot.” That’s a bad idea and one that should not have been executed. The fact that it was made tolerable by some nice visuals and largely successful musical adaptations of some of my favorite songs does not make me a hypocrite or a waffler.
March 6th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
You forgot to mention that Joe Cocker was in a scene as a pimp and a hobo. I think that just made the whole movie.
I liked it, honestly. The plot wasn’t exactly strong, but it made me like the Beatles more than I already do because their songs are so awesome. And it made me want to do acid.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I’m sorry that you’re offended by my comments but I assumed that since you were capable of dishing out criticism, you’d be able to take some too…I guess not. I was merely expressing my opinion about your article just like you were expressing yours about the movie. I see nothing wrong with that and, honestly, I think it’s ridiculous that you would take such personal offense to what one person says. I’m not the one insulting you, you’re reading too far into what I had to say.
Grow up!
March 7th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Good call on basically everything in the review. I’ve seen the movie twice in theaters, and then twice more on dvd, and after every viewing I sat there thinking “wow, that was dissatisfying” and yet I keep coming back to it. The real reason I was inspired to post here though is in response to ’savepeace’. This review is easily one of the most honest and well written reviews I’ve read in a long time, you come along declaring him a ‘dumbass’ the review ‘bullshit’ and tell him he should ‘keep his mouth shut’, then when he defends his arguments, you accuse him of being unable to take criticism and tell him to ‘grow up’. Well it is you who should grow up, and shut up. You sir, are an asshole.
March 8th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
halle berry and billy bob thornton…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
March 9th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Model Ryan…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
March 9th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Chanel Ryan Nude…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
March 13th, 2008 at 5:51 am
Thanks Desmond.
March 15th, 2008 at 2:40 am
In response to Paul McCartney approving of the movie, apparently he sat beside the producer at a private screening, watched it quietly, and when the producer turned to him at the end and ask him what he thought, he looked over at her and said.
“Alright then.” Got up and left.
Great approval of the movie obviously, and when you think about it concidering Michael Jackson owns all of those songs poor McCartney couldn’t really protest huh?
March 16th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I hear Paul McCartney whole heartedly approved….that his response was, “What’s not to love?” If he loves it, who are any of you to criticize?
March 17th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Eh. It’s honestly one of the best movies I’ve seen recently, even though I can see a fair amount wrong with it. I agree that Eddie Izzard was mind-boggling not funny in this movie, considering he’s possibly the most comedically gifted man alive. And Prudence, I liked, though she really should have been in it more. All of her plot line is thrown in as an add-on to someone’s sentence in a scene she’s not IN, generally. And….I…really don’t understand why Lucy had to be such an out-and-out bitch. There’s not a single way in which she’s likeable.
Oh. And, uh…
Hendrix-man should have been given more than one-and-a-half songs, as his dulcet tones could, I’m sure, forcibly remove women’s clothing in a single note and ravish them by the second.
…
Just sayin’.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I agree with the lesbo Asian comments, he is a stupid character. But the songs are not bad, I do not think Bono’s version of “I am the Walrus” is bad either. They didn’t portray Jimi Hendrix right, he is supposed to be left handed and in the movie they show him right handed, it was annoying as hell to see him play right-handed, I realize that it’s somewhat stupid, but come on it’s Jimi Hendrix guys. I don’t understand either how Max and Jude become best friends so fast. I like Jim Sturgess and his voice.
March 21st, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I wanted to see this movie, but after reading the review and the commentaries, it strikes me that the movie was created by someone who saw “Moulin Rouge” one too many times and thought it’d be brilliant to string Beatles’ songs together. So, now, I’m not so interested in seeing the movie.
Better an honest review than the tripe served up as “review” by most newspapers and websites….
March 25th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
This movie was an insult to Lennon, Harrison, Starr, and McCartney. Not an intentional one, but one nonetheless. It’s not the covers of the songs that piss me off, it’s the (lack of) storyline and the view the movie takes of the 60’s and the Vietnam War. It can’t decide it it wants to be serious or silly, real or ideal. It switches around, throwing the viewer off base.
To be fair, I was not there. (that is–alive in the 60’s).
But as a history major, I really feel some things are misrepresented. Yes, there was a draft back then, and it wasn’t always fair. But people knew full well that going to college exempted you from the draft. Even Bill Clinton admits to staying in school to stay out of the war. So Max really DID know what he was getting into. His family was well off, so they would have no trouble paying his tuition.
None of the bad effects of drug use are portrayed, such as addiction, seizures or death.
All of the references seemed to be too heavy-handed, and the songs did not advance the plot.
And Jude was a self-centered prick who lied to and cheated on his girl back home.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I love the movie very much, even though I have to admit that a couple of actors really annoyed me. If they were replaced with better actors, I would have loved it 10 times more.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Wow, I didn’t realize te comments were still going and with some good ones at that! Yeah, this movie could not have been made without Moulin Rouge and I think Moulin Rouge surpassed it in every way. The balance between plot and song was far superior in MR.
Now I know when you have Beatles songs — some of the greatest songs ever written — you can’t just slop them around and use just one line like they did in MR. But then, maybe, that’s the reason you shouldn’t try to make a movie like this in the first place.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
I absolutely adored the movie.
That being said, everything in this review is true also.
And as an added note, my reasons for liking the movie were NOT because I’d never heard any other Beatles song besides “All You Need is Love” in my life. I’ve been a Beatles fan my whole life and when this film came out, I was pushing pre-pubescent teeny boppers out of the way so I could get my ticket.
I proceeded to buy the DVD upon its release.
Yeah, this movie isn’t a Citizen Kane. But were you honestly expecting it to be? I thought it was great for what it was worth.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:24 am
the movie was crap, the movie was soooo bad EVERYONE watched it more then once (almost, anyway)
i think the movie was awesome.. not particularly as a movie itself but because it made me fall in love with the beatles all over again. probably because i could not entirely relate to their songs all that much. The fact that the movie put THEIR songs into normal.. i don’t know.. these situations where.. everyone had something to relate to, something which made them feel.. something. i dont know.
it was quite abstract.. the story didnt really have much of a direction, wasn’t going anywhere. but i thought that was cool, you know? because you take whatever you want from it. i mean the characters themselves didnt have much to them, they were kinda lost in whatever they kept getting themselves into. which is fine..
YES, i didnt get what prudance… erm.. WAS. she was just THERE. in fact everything was just happening.. and THERE. but.. its always interesting to have some abstract kinda view of.. things.
yes, the movie wasnt any good without the songs. which is sad cuz the songs did well without the movie.
but again.. i liked it!
i think strawberry fields forever was amazing.
May 7th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I second Lola, I’ve only watched it stoned and so the plot line, or lack of, didn’t matter given that I couldn’t follow one if it was there. The art and music aspect of the movie blew my mind, I still don’t know how they wound up with Eddie Izzard in the middle of no where singing Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite and I, frankly, don’t really care because it was fantastic. I haven’t found any one of the renditions that I liked better than the original and didn’t really expect to, nor did their throwing the songs together in hopes of making a movie really make much sense with quotes from me to my roommate (who watches it sober and loves it) such as “how can you watch that sober, it doesn’t make sense, some random asian chick walks through the middle of a football game and doesn’t even get slammed and then has randomly locked herself in their closet and then bam! they’re singing to her while floating in the sky surrounded by clouds… which was awesome but seriously wtf?”.
I guess since I was baked I never really questioned how insulting this poor plot line is to the amazingness of the part of the movie I paid attention to. Now that I’m looking at it from a sober point of view.. you have a very good point.
May 7th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Okay, if nothing else we have to admit that this is one of those rare movies that elicits a STRONG response, one way or the other. I confess to being a 60’s survivor … I actually saw the Beatles perform … and I loved the movie. It certainly wasn’t perfect … as much as I love Eddie Izzard, he should have ended up on the cutting room floor, and Bono was incredibly fucking annoying as only Bono can be. But there were some moments that were simply sublime. For example, the arrangement of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” was magical (although Prudence was pretty much irrelevant after that). There was so plot, but so fucking what?? Moulin Rouge wasn’t exactly Shakespeare. I think Julie Taymor is a genius, and you either love or hate her work (I loved Titus, most people hated it). I gotta agree with everything that Lucie said in her post. I also think the review contained a lot of truth, but I have to say the movie actually moved me!
May 21st, 2008 at 4:45 pm
You completely captured how that piece of crap movie made me feel.
For anyone who truly loves the Beatles, and wants to see an amazing show made out of their music, check out Cirque Du Soleil’s “Love”. I don’t think it’s out on DVD yet, but I saw it in Vegas with my husband (in the front row, I might add), and it was the experience of a lifetime. As close to a Beatles concert as I’ll ever get…
June 12th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
truly, this movie was incomprehensible to me, as i was not born until the 80’s
June 17th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
What I would love to see is a live action version of “Yellow Submarine” directed by Julie Taymor. I think her talents are perfect for turning two dimensional cartoon characters into live action spectacles.
But Across the Universe? Total pap. As a life-long Beatles fan, thirty years old, it felt like I was watching some totally irrelevant people jump in and take credit for the Beatles’ great songs and legacy. Everything great about this movie was already in the songs and everything not already in the songs wasn’t great. It didn’t feel like a tribute or a celebration of the Beatles at all. It felt like f**king plagiarism.
What I sincerely hope is that all the kids who have been introduced to the deeper cuts from the Beatles catalog through this movie will, with time, come to realize how little this film has to do with that greatness. I hope they’ll be listening to Abbey Road if they want to hear “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and not this movie’s soundtrack. There’s hope. I remember a time when I thought Belly’s cover of “Are You Experienced?” was superior to Jimi’s original…
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 am
Yes, I have to agree, the plot was cliched and somehow managed to make no sense at the same time, but it’s still my fucking favorite movie of all time. That would be because I’m an aspiring director (read works at burger king) and the art and symbolism and shit is AMAZING.
So, unless you’re a total flim geek or have never heard of the Beatles, don’t watch it.