A Tremendous Letdown

Rating: 2/10 (15 September 2007)

I'm a huge Beatles nut, and a big fan of musicals as well. I was really looking forward to this movie. Boy, did it ever drop the ball. Granted, I saw an advance screening, but it was only a week before the movie comes out, and I doubt they'll change anything.
There are two major problems with this movie; its plot and its characters. The plot itself is wafer-thin at best. The story is incidental to the music, rather than it being the other way around, like a good musical should. It feels like a succession of music videos with weak segue-ways in between. As a result, several of the songs do absolutely nothing to move the story forward in any way, shape, or form.
The characters... The protagonist, Jude, and his love interest, Lucy, are two of the most unlikeable leads since Anakin and Padme. Jude, especially, is really terrible. The film does absolutely nothing to endear him to the audience, and by the end of the movie, I found myself rooting against him.
Another character, Prudence, should really have been completely cut from the film. She has no real affect on the plot or any other of the characters, and was really only in the movie to allow them to sing "Dear, Prudence." Early in the film, she sings a VERY slow version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and it did nothing but slow the movie down. Every time something happens with her character, more questions arise than are answered.
If you're up for seeing some occasionally interesting visuals, and halfway decent covers of Beatles songs, then you MIGHT enjoy this movie. But if you're expecting anything else from it, you will be sorely disappointed.