Across the Universe Movie | Page 3 | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

I watched Across The Universe at my friend Steve’s house some time ago. While there were elements I quite liked, there was a lot – an AWFUL lot – which I didn’t.

Taking the music first, it was interesting to see that what was presented was a mixture of note-for-note remakes and wildly different reinterpretations, and in both cases, some worked and some didn’t (I thought Bono sang Walrus well, for instance, but I simply can’t take those lyrics in anyone’s voice other than John’s). I thought all the principals sang well.

Turning to the rest of the movie, it was a shambles. There was nothing wrong with the basic story (by which I mean the love story between Jude and Lucy), but it was decked out with characters and thread elements which went nowhere – Prudence, for instance, a character with no narrative value whatsoever other than to enable two non-plot relevant songs, and Jude’s Dad, an interesting plot thread which rapidly became a dead end. The end result rambled, of necessity, what with being loaded down with irrelevancies.

And the incessant naming of characters from Beatles songs became trite – around the 40 minutes mark I started wondering when we were going to meet Rita and Eleanor and Pam and Bungalow Bill… Not to mention the endless quotes – “How did she get here?” “Oh, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window .” I would have welcomed, “Oh, she climbed in off the fire escape.” Above everything, I was irritated at how damn American the whole thing was. Notwithstanding one of the main characters being Liverpudlian, and notwithstanding The Beatles reflecting their times (including the enormous global influence of the USA), they were an English group, and I felt queasy at their music being used to illuminate the USA’s internal upheavals over Vietnam, not to mention dysfunctional yuppie family life (Thanksgiving? Not very Beatle-y, if you don’t mind my saying). Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais deserve a clip round the ear for the screenplay – try Still Crazy for a noticeably better film from them in the world of rock.

Ahhh Girl said
The whole movie was worth it to see Max yelling “Hey Jude ” at just the right moment.

I agree with that statement. I watched the movie last night without having read this thread beforehand, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. (It’s probably better that I didn’t read it because it might have dissuaded me from watching it) Overall, I think it was pretty good. It wasn’t a great movie, but there were some parts that were worth it, like the one mentioned above. I also really like the context in which they used I Want You (She’s So Heavy) and the accompanying montage. There were some songs that really felt thrown in, like Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (which was a terrible cover and probably the worst scene in the movie) and Dear Prudence , which could have used further development.

vectisfabber said

Above everything, I was irritated at how damn American the whole thing was. Notwithstanding one of the main characters being Liverpudlian, and notwithstanding The Beatles reflecting their times (including the enormous global influence of the USA), they were an English group, and I felt queasy at their music being used to illuminate the USA’s internal upheavals over Vietnam, not to mention dysfunctional yuppie family life (Thanksgiving? Not very Beatle-y, if you don’t mind my saying).

Personally, I didn’t really mind that aspect of the movie since Beatles music covered more than just the upheaval in Britain; it could apply just as well to what was happening on the other side of the Atlantic. Part of its timelessness was (and is) due to how much people everywhere could relate to it.

I’d give this movie a 3.5/5 (.5 added because Jude looked like Paul sometimes and the Easter eggs were fun to spot)