Painstakingly researched but out of touch

Rating: 6/10 (26 September 2007)

As the final credits for this rolled at the Aspen Film Festival tonight, I had to wonder how many people recovering from substance abuse were watching this to relive their glory days of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. While I've loved all of Taymor's previous projects, particularly the under-appreciated "Titus," "Universe" for me suffers from a very thorough study of the high points and styles of the 1965 - 1969 period without the benefit of much depth. She also samples extremely intelligently (and therefore extremely derivatively) from "Rent," "Moulin Rouge," Monty Python (her animation leans far more towards MP than her usual excellent work), late '80s-era MTV, and even "Forrest Gump." The actors are all terrific, the design and colors are fantastic, but the end result is one more plasticized remnant of a handed-down '60s experience. And why in the world the songs picked rely so heavily on "Abbey Road" and "The White Album," and without a single nod to "Revolver" or all that many to "Sgt. Pepper" is beyond me. Thank God the climax is a NYC-transfered re-enactment of The Beatles' famous rooftop performance and not our long lost lovers finding themselves at Woodstock. I would have been forced to watch the Rolling Stones 1970 documentary "Gimme Shelter" until that poisonous '60s saccharine had been flushed away.