Reality Check

Rating: 1/10 (12 April 2008)

I tried to like this movie, I really did, but except for the soundtrack, I felt as if I had just watched Julie Taymor's senior project from film school. While trying to be an homage to the Beatles and 60's counter culture, the non-existent plot and blatant reproduction of images from other works left me wanting the two hours that I spent watching this peace of drivel back. From the blatant copying of Richard Avedon's photographs of John and Yoko to the anachronistic nods to Zelig and Forrest Gump, it is clear that Taymor, Clement and La Frenais had no idea of structure or plot and simply recreated some very famous images in order to make a two hour music video featuring the songs of the Beatles. Toss in the one liners, "Strawberry Jamz", "Hello, Hello" "She came in through the bathroom window", "Meet Rita" and the transformation of JoJo into Jimi Hendrix, the Janis Joplinesque Sadie along with the none too disguised reference to the Merry Pranksters, Dr. Timothy Leary, the Hog Farm and the nod to Apocalypse Now and in the end you are not left with an original film but a poor derivative work made up of stock images which paints the 60's, not vibrantly as Peter Max would have, but in a very pastel shade of rose. This mish mash of unoriginal images is not good film making nor is it a fitting tribute to two of the greatest song writers ever, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. In the end, I wish that Max had beaten me with a silver hammer and put me out of my misery.