One Trip I Won't Be Repeating

Rating: 3/10 (23 September 2008)

Taymor is without a doubt a visionary. Her film is like a lavish visual experience, and the cinematography is astounding. You feel like you're on the strangest drug trip of your life. But sadly, what this film has in look, it lacks in everything else.
The story concerns two 70's era lovers Jude and Lucy. This story had potential, too bad it becomes a clichéd, tired look at a vibrant time. I thought Jim Sturgess' performance was fine, my real problem lay with Evan Rachel Wood. Her performance was flat, wooden and her character was a walking 2D construction. There was nothing likable about her character - disaster for a film that relies on its two leads.
The love story never veers off run-of-the-mill. There are too many secondary characters named after Beatles songs that its hard to identify with any of them. The sub-plots are, however, more interesting than the central guy-loves-girl plot. Joe Anderson is trying hard to keep the film together. Halfway though, the film starts losing it, and never recovers.
There has been some attempt to 'change up' the songs, but you can't improve on perfection, and many of the songs fall down with the plot. The actors are trying, and they are good renditions, but nothing more. Some of the songs seem to drag the plot along. Several times in the film, the 'hidden' Beatles messages get anxious and far too overt. Taymor assumes that the viewer is less knowledgeable than the filmmakers, and it gets too much.
This film treats the viewer to some visual beauty, but overall lacks in everything else, and sadly, a pretty picture does not make a film.