Now let's get a few things straight. . .

Rating: Null/10 (1 December 2000)

I am just about the biggest Beatles fan imaginable and so, axiomatically, I enjoy this movie very much. However, I think it's time to put to rest the notion of this being some kind of great film apart from its value as a keyhole onto to the Fabs' heyday. Let's face it, as pure moviemaking, this thing is a bit of a joke. The story, as such, is nonexistent, the pacing is flabby, and the "Paul's grandfather" subplot (which no one ever seems to mention in appraisals of the movie anymore, despite its taking up of a good deal of film time) is embarrassingly cheesy. On top of all that, the Beatles themselves are simply so hard to *understand* much of the time (Liverpool scouse being a very mumbled and slurred-together dialect) that quite a bit of the so-called sparkling wit just goes over (or under) your head the first three or four times you see it. Someone really should have sat the lads down with some Marx Brothers or Abbott and Costello movies to teach them at least the rudiments of enunciation and comic timing.
As a story, it's very interesting how the film portrays the Beatles as prisoners of their own fame, with an unmistakable wisp of pathos and frustration which is allowed to undergird all the wildness and comedy. This especially comes through in the sequence where Ringo leaves the band to go "parading" and enjoy some freedom (an unconscious foreshadowing of future events to boot, as Ringo was the first Beatle to ever "leave the band" - four years later during the White Album sessions). Yet, the irony is never put forth that the very people who are keeping the Beatles prisoner - their fans - are the ones for whom this movie is made and is being aimed at. A decade later, such a disparity would have forced a punk band such as the Sex Pistols to fire off a massive "F*** You!" to its audience (and, in fact, one rock star did do just this - in film, no less: Roger Waters during the amazing and squirm-inducing "In the Flesh" segment of Pink Floyd The Wall, where a concert of mindlessly adoring fans is compared none too subtly with a Nazi rally).
I'm not saying, of course, that the Beatles should have come out spitting and gobbing at their fans and tearing apart their image in A Hard Day's Night. This would have been impossible to do in mainstream cinema in 1964, anyway. What I'm saying is that by introducing such a glaring irony and then failing to deal with it in any way, the film asserts itself solidly as a product of its times and nothing more - no great and enduring piece of art, certainly. In some ways, the next year's followup, Help!, was the better film because it did not try to be anything more than a madcap Beatle travelogue (and succeeded admirably, with its pristine color, beautiful locales, and clever comic moments - although its setups do get a bit monotonous after awhile).
Of course, A Hard Day's Night *will* endure - simply because THE BEATLES endure, and this gives us the best sustained look at their performing prowess and all-around joie de vivre. The musical sequences in the film are simply glorious, particularly the orgiastic concert at the end, but even more muted moments such as when the Beatles sneak off to a nightclub to dance and intermingle with other youths to the soundtrack of their own songs; the scene provides a wonderful "you are there" quality to the partying and club-hopping side of Swinging London circa 1964. But a film's overall quality, I say, must be judged by its ability to be a complete and satisfying whole, not just as a vehicle to show off the talents and charm of its central figure or figures (otherwise, by that measure, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective would have to be preserved and championed as one of America's greatest contributions to world cinema).
So what am I saying, finally? A Hard Day's Night - if you are a Beatle fan it is essential; see it, enjoy it, revel in their youth and vitality as often and as passionately as you want. Just don't allow your enthusiasm for the group to confuse this with a great film.
(btw: If you wish to experience the group's charm and musical euphoria of this time full on, without the intrusions of a tacked on plot or supplementary characters, check out the wonderful documentary "The Beatles' First U.S. Visit". Done by the Maysles brothers - the duo behind the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" later in the decade - the film captures all the excitement [and footage] of the Beatles' triumphant arrival in America, including all their Ed Sullivan appearances, various backstage reflections and shenanigans, and an extended, supercharged sequence of their concert at Washington Coliseum. For my money, this film is even MORE essential than A Hard Day's Night; it is, quite simply, the best extended visual document of the Beatles that we have.)