Extraordinary

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2008)

I have become quite jaded when it comes to movies. This one blew my socks off! Not even kidding . . .
The concept is contrived (we saw it before with Momma Mia, i.e. shoe-horning in a story around songs written in an entirely different context), however here, in this movie, the use of the Beatles songs did not feel contrived. Rather, the viewer was left with the opposite impression -- how creative a team must have been behind this movie to make the musical interludes work so well! In addition, the production, performance and singing on all of the songs was outstanding.
It's a little slow getting going, but if you let yourself get about 30 minutes in, you will laugh, cry, fall in love and generally have a great time. Another reviewer mentioned that after finishing watching this movie, he felt like he'd experienced a "moviegoing moment," i.e. where a movie so touched you, you felt changed at the end. That's how I felt after watching this movie. I can't wait to get my friends to see it as well. If I had to describe it in a few words, using other movies as comparisons, I'd say "A historic romance in the vein of "Moulon Rouge" crossed with "Once" and interpreted through the music of the Beatles." Loved it!