Movie was to the 60's what Grease was to the 50's

Rating: 9/10 (6 October 2007)

Just saw this movie and I must say - that was fun! The story is pretty universal - a guy and a girl from two different cultures fall for each other and their differences strain at their relationship, but eventually love conquers. The story has been told a lot of times - this one was set in the hippie period. But the centerpiece of this movie is the music.
One thing a great musical requires is great music - and how can you get better than Beatles music? Listening to all those extremely familiar songs, I still marvel at the changes in chords and the way the music unfolds - awesome - makes me want to cry. Music really gets a person where they live - it exalts the human spirit and adds poetry to everyday experience - great music does it in a great way - Beatles music is great music.
So with the awesome music, the movie has a great head start. Beyond this it is pretty well done - capturing the culture, politics, fashion and icons of the time. (We were pretty sure we saw Joe Cocker in this movie and IMBDb confirms it.) I noticed the director was born the same year I was - knowing Beatles songs inside out and having lived this era caused the movie to mean a lot to me. In addition, the movie had that aspect that you can't just put your finger on - it just moved me.
I know I'm biased, but I believe the years 1965 to 1973 or so were the best ever for music. Every generation rebels against their parents' culture and that usually includes the music. But there is something different about the music of this period. I have noticed that my children's generation and all the subsequent generations to the "60's" rebelled against my generation - but the music is an exception. Subsequent generations to the 60's seem to love 60's music and Beatles music. So this adds some universality to the movie. There were several girls about 16 years old in the row in front of us in the theater - we could see they loved the music and this movie as much as we did. (My frame of reference to the movie was the hippies, protests, Vietnam War, etc. - I can't help but wonder what their frame of reference is for such a movie?)