Aims High, Falls Short.

Rating: 6/10 (6 May 2008)

This heartfelt homage to the music and turbulent era of The Beatles certainly doesn't lack ambition, but it probably wasn't such a great idea to begin with. Knitting together a cohesive narrative from a random song selection is overreaching, and it shows. Unfortunately, the creators got carried away with themselves and let this thing go on far too long. Would have been better as a string of lively musical numbers without any of the boring dialog, which failed to tie it all together anyway. And ditch those pseudo-soul-searching renditions of the ballads  The Beatles never let themselves become so maudlin. The cast is good, except for Evan Rachel Wood, who is one-dimensional. Enjoyed the Maurice Binder/James Bond-style closing credits best, but like the songs themselves, I would have preferred seeing the original James Bond title sequences instead.