A story told through the songs of the Beatles.

Rating: Null/10 (16 March 2008)

It is an interesting concept, make up a story and tell it through a series of popular Beatles songs. The characters will sometimes have the same name as the character in the song, like 'Jude' and 'Lucy'.
The period is the 1960s when the Beatles were at the height of their popularity and there was turmoil in the USA, including race riots and discontent over the Viet Nam conflict. Evan Rachel Wood, who sings very well, is Lucy Carrigan, about to graduate from high school. Her sweetheart goes off into the military.
Brit Jim Sturgess is Jude, in England, who finds out that his father is an American GI from the war, working at Princeton University, where he travels to look for him. 'Just so we will both know about each other.'
Brit Joe Anderson plays Lucy's brother Max Carrigan, who becomes best friends with Jude. Jude and Lucy eventually develop a love relationship.
I was a college student in the 1960s when the Beatles invaded America. While I like them and agree that their's was a permanent influence on popular music, I was never a Beatles fanatic. So for me this movie was just 'OK.' The story was contrived to make use of the lyrics and the characters in the sings, and that works pretty well. There are some great visuals and all the characters are competent to good singers.