Imagine There's No Heaven, Just People Loving One Another Here on Earth

Rating: 7/10 (6 November 2007)

A fresh breeze sweeping away the cloud of gloom that has descended on Hollywood this fall, "Across the Universe" is a nice antidote to all of those grimy, dour films currently filling movie theatres. The point of all of those seems to be that we live in a crappy world. The point of "Across the Universe" is that sure, things may be crappy now, but they've been crappy before, and as long as the important things -- like love -- remain, the world we live in can always get better.
A simplistic message? Perhaps. But no less welcome for that. Stage veteran Julie Taymor, most known for her revolutionary staging of the Broadway musical "The Lion King," sets her movie in the turbulent 60s, when anti-Vietnam sentiments and racial discord were reaching a boiling point, but there's no doubt that the criticism of American foreign policy is aimed squarely at the leadership of today who currently have us embroiled in another potential Vietnam, Iraq. The movie unfolds in bursts of song and color (the score is comprised completely of Beatles tunes), and even though the movie is far too long given its wisp of a plot, it mostly manages to sustain an infectious energy.
The Beatles songs mostly sound great, and they're used creatively. I already knew I liked the Beatles, but hearing their songs performed here in a different context reawakened an appreciation for them. "I Want to Hold Your Hand," for example, originally a perky pop anthem, becomes here a heartbreaking ballad performed by a young girl in love whose object of affection doesn't return the favor. "Come Together" plays over a dazzling montage juxtaposing New York's Wall Street elite (represented by a troupe of suited business men dancing in unison) to its disenfranchised. And "Let It Be" becomes a gospel anthem underscoring the Detroit riots. Other songs fare less well, like "Strawberry Fields Forever," which feels awkwardly shoe-horned into the film.
The young cast of mostly unknowns is attractive and engaging, even if the film doesn't demand much from them. The standout for me was Dana Fuchs, playing a singer obviously modeled after Janis Joplin.
Grade: A-