Jukebox musical with art-house pretensions

Rating: 6/10 (24 September 2007)

As far as the mini-genre goes, better than "Sgt. Pepper," "Tommy," and "All This and World War Two," not as good as "Moulin Rouge." Closest in feel & structure to "Tommy," down to the rockstar cameos (Joe Cocker & Bono vs. Elton John & Tina Turner) and bursts of psychedelia.
Way too long. Suspect the critics are falling all over this because it's directed by Taymor, rather than for its intrinsic merits. The whole is not equal to some of the pieces.
Plot is inconsequential and a clichÃ©. Probably could have shaved off quite a bit of time by ditching all the dialogue and just leaving the music - it's not as though it would be too difficult to follow without spoken exposition.
As a way of marketing Beatle music to a younger demographic, it seemed to work at the theatre in which I saw it. Teens and twenty-somethings seemed to be discussing it on the way out more than boomers (my age group).