A Travesty

Rating: 1/10 (8 February 2008)

I've got an idea. Let's take some of the greatest songs ever written, suck all of the wit, irony and originality out of them, have them performed by second rate performers, create some cardboard "characters" to "sing" these songs and act out a "plot" cobbled together by the original songs' supposed "meanings." Brilliant!
When I first began playing music as a teenager, I began with songs from bands like the Eagles, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, etc. It was only after I had been playing for about five years that I truly attempted to learn the Beatles' music, and, when I did, their timeless songs opened up whole new musical horizons for me that I am still exploring to this day. I am convinced that the Beatles' music will still be widely shared and enjoyed 200 years from now. Their songs were of a certain time in history, but their meaning is timeless.
This movie is horrible. It's an outrage. It's the film equivalent of taking all of Picasso's work, hacking it to little bits and having those pieces rearranged by a far lesser artist into some hackneyed "interpretation" of what someone thinks Picasso was trying to "say." Now, one might argue that the Beatles' music are pop songs, not great art, and therefore are game for this kind of "homage." Fair enough. But if you truly love the Beatles like I do, forgo this bomb of a movie, and, instead, pop on some headphones and listen to their music. Close your eyes and let your own imagination paint a picture of the songs' meaning.