Thirty Covered Beatles' Songs

Rating: 7/10 (31 December 2014)

There are no opening credits. A young man, alone at the beach in winter, laments about his lost love as he sings "Girl." Then we see a montage of late 1960s violence in the USA as Dana Fuchs ("Sadie") sings "Helter-Skelter." Next we are at a high school prom, circa 1964, where students dance to the tune of "Hold Me Tight." The boys sport the short haircuts of the time and wear white blazers. Then there is an inter-cut of British teens at what appears to be the 1960s "Cavern" night club singing the same Beatles' lyrics. The English boy (Jude = Jim Sturgess) says goodbye to his girlfriend as he sets sail to America. He wants to meet his biological father. Jude was conceived during World War II when his bio-father was a US soldier stationed in England; the father never knew that his girlfriend became pregnant. Back in the USA, at a high school football practice, an Asian cheerleader, Prudence (T.V. Carpio), sings "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" in the most deadpan manner you will ever see. Prudence grieves as she sings that she wants to be the "man" as she eyes a sexy blonde cheerleader. Yes, Prudence is a lesbian. "Across the Universe" is a simple story really, about young folks in love against the backdrop of the later sixties: the British Invasion aftermath, civil rights, the military draft and induction, Detroit riots, assassination, druggie culture, and hippies. Pretty heroine Lucy Carrigan (Evan Rachel Wood), who has lost her first love in Vietnam, has become radicalized. She spends time in New York's Greenwich Village and has fallen in love with Jude. Before leaving her comfortable home, Lucy reassures her mom that she will be good. Then she sees Sadie (Dana Fuchs), a Janis Joplin-like singer, perform "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" After that she turns naughty and literally lets her knickers down. Subsequently she joins a radical hippie group that "progresses" from mass demonstration protests to violence to bomb-making. Ah, idealism! Meanwhile Jude finds work designing record album covers (like the psychedelic strawberry). Jude disapproves of Lucy's activist group and there's a rift. Will the former lovers ever reunite? The Beatles did sing "All you need is love," but do you believe that love alone is really enough? Think about that for a minute.
The real center of the movie is the Beatle songbook with the majority from the later Beatles; all are covers. Some are done better than others. As previously described, Prudence's performance is oddly sung. In contrast, grubby Joe Cocker, bogged down by age and weight, can still belt out "Come Together" with the best of them and still find time to save a careless pedestrian from being struck by a taxi. U-2 lead Bono's interpretation of "I Am the Walrus" is very well done too. Surprisingly, female lead Evan Rachel Wood's rendition of "If I Fell" is not bad at all. She can sing. By the way, Beatles aficionados know that the movie character names come directly from their songs: Jude, Lucy, Max, Prudence, Mr. Kite, Dr. Robert, etc.
Although the actors are competent they are not exceptional. The pop art creation and choreography and sets are done well enough. Check out the businessmen with their look-alike suits, hats, and briefcases (albeit the second one from the right does trip during the song). How about the "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Want You" sequences with the coming-alive Uncle Sam posters and induction tirades? On the other hand, the prostitutes singing "Come Together" does not exactly work at all. Unlike most musicals, this one has a song every few minutes that hampers the storyline, which runs far too long for one with just a paper-thin plot. The critics are all over the board on this movie. Dennis Schwartz (Ozus' World Movie Reviews) pans it, and Reelviews' James Berardinelli has only slightly more empathy. Leonard Maltin gives "Across the Universe" 2 ½ stars, or OK. On the other hand, Roger Ebert rated it the number seven movie of 2007, and awarded 4 stars. Pick 'em anyway you want, but I find the feature colorful and entertaining, which is all you really need!
"I am he as you are he as you are me
And we are all together . . ."