Not For Everyone I Suppose

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2009)

I, for one, thought this movie was incredible. Being a long-time Beatles fan I can appreciate any rendition of their music (including Ben Harper's version of Stawberry Fields or John Butler Trio's Across the Universe), and I feel like this was beautifully done. Many people felt like this movie lacked heart or even a good plot, but I completely disagree. It was strewn together by song and the heart of the story was written in everything from the chemistry between characters to the way each scene was shot. There are a few different love stories, the main one being between Jude, played by Jim Sturgess, and Lucy, played by Evan Rachel Wood. Their love is challenged by different elements that I feel anyone can relate to. There's also the love that Prudence (T.V. Carpio) has for, well... pretty much any woman that pays her the right amount of attention. Lastly, there's a very sexual undertow between Sadie and Jo-Jo (Dana Fuchs and Martin Luther, respectively).
Aside from the love stories, I feel that Max's character (Joe Anderson) provides the right amount of comic relief and depth that this story needed. Max gets drafted and you get to take a ride on the military mass production line. It shows all these young men going in in their skivvies and coming out basically carbon copies of each other.
I guess, to sum it all up, this movie was just amazing. With that being said, I think it takes a different kind of person to really enjoy it. So, it's just not for everyone.