Uneven...at times brilliant...many times over-indulgent and

Rating: 7/10 (25 October 2007)

Uneven...at times brilliant...many times over-indulgent and overwrought. Weak on storytelling most of the time, this film relies on its one overpowering asset, the Beatles' music, which is undeniably compelling. Shamelessly evoking iconographic images of the time, the film has little to say about them. A light entertainment that doesn't, in the end, amount to much. Really just a longish music video. OK for that. There are definitely worse ways to spend an hour and a half. To a new generation unfamiliar with the Beatles' music it maintains the integrity of the songs while adding images that vary from poetic to silly. As a piece of cinema it does not break any new ground or have much to recommend it. The Broadway-style production numbers just seem out-of-place.