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All Movie Info
Starring:
Evan Rachel Wood, Joe Anderson, Cynthia Loebe, Nicole Berger, Bono, Brendan Burke, Robert Clohessy, Marcus Collins, Craig DiFrancia, Linda Emond, Jim Ford, Edwin Freeman, Samantha Futerman, Salma Hayek, Eddie Izzard, Russ Klein, Perri Lauren, Kel O'Neill, Jacob Pitts, Brian Smyj, Frank Stellato, James Urbaniak, Bill Weeden, Brian M. Wixson, Jim Sturgess, Adesola A. Osakalumi, Matthew Backer, Tracey Brennan, Jen Arvay, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther, Heather Janneck, Andrew Asnes, William Atkinson, Jennifer Bailenson, Mark A. Bailey, Jordan Bass, Michael Biscardi, Randy Blair, Gregory Allan Bock, Michael Boothroyd, Jen Arvay, Delancey Birzin, Tim McGarrigal, Jeanine Serralles
Directed By:
Julie Taymor
Written By:
Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais
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Across the Universe (2007)
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Movie Review by Ezra
October 23rd, 2007
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Across the Universe is the latest from Broadway-stage-director-turned-cinematic-artiste Julie Taymor (Titus, Frida) and, as fans of her first two films have come to expect, it is visually spectacular. However, it suffers from the same things that made Hair (1979)great and Rent (2005), well ... not so much, which is that it attempts to convey the political, social and emotional turbulence of the Vietnam era (or, in the case of Rent, the Reagan era) in the milieu of a cute, pop musical. Whereas Hair worked because of a rockin' original soundtrack and a surprisingly dark view of the subject matter, Universe (and Rent even more so) falls victim to the trap of thinking it's deeper than it ever really gets, and its conceit of revamping classic Beatles songs to fit the story (or perhaps it's more fitting to say crafting a story to fit the songs) works really well about half the time, but never really transcends the gimmick.
The film deals with a lot of serious issues, including but not limited to existential angst, war, homosexuality and its concomitant repression, drug use, and the nature and breakdown of various human relationships, but despite the film's often explosive visual flourishes, the story and characters never really blow up. I'm not blaming the cast; the three leads - Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess and Joe Anderson - are all solid and likeable, it's just that ultimately their characters are pretty one dimensional: the sweet, good-hearted girl next door, the angry, tortured artist and the loveable but incorrigible rogue, respectively. Likewise, their story offers little that is new or exciting.
Jude (whose name makes the entire movie something of a waiting game, i.e. "When are they gonna do 'Hey Jude'?") is a young British man who travels to America to find his estranged father, a World War II sailor who is unaware of Jude's existence. While visiting the college where his father works, he meets Max (Anderson) and they become friends, to the tune of "With A Little Help From My Friends," of course. Max introduces Jude to his sister Lucy (get it?) and they fall in love rather quickly as she is getting over the loss of her old boyfriend, who was killed in Vietnam. The three travel the country in search of themselves (the movie honestly forces me to write in cliches like that), encountering along the way various pseudo-characters meant to represent the important figures of the time, including a pseudo-Janis Joplin, a pseudo-Jimi Hendrix, a pseudo-Timothy Leary, a pseudo-Abby Hoffman - you get the idea. Ultimately, the real conflict finally gets rolling when Max, like George in Hair,is drafted and sent to Vietnam. From there, relationships begin to break down as Lucy becomes an activist, Jude tries to reconcile love, life and art and Max fights in Vietnam. The film's conclusion and overall message are as simple (and simplistic) as "All You Need Is Love," and no more subtle.
But lest you get the wrong impression, I did enjoy the film, and I do recommend it to basically anyone who didn't throw up at the premise: a musical made up of Beatles covers. The cinematic technique at work here is stellar, even if some of the acid-soaked visuals are a bit cheeseball at this point, and the story and characters, simplistic as they are, are relatively engaging. If you don't take the film as seriously as it seems to want to take itself, you will undoubtedly enjoy it.
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