All you need is love...... sort of.

Rating: 5/10 (8 March 2008)

It would be nice if all you needed in this world was love to make things work out, but this isn't an ideal world and other things are required (dedication, persistence, perspiration and sacrifice to name a few). About the same could be said of this film. It is more of a musical than a film. It is a filmed musical. Think of Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, except all the music is from the Beatles.
If this film came out sometime in the 70's or 80's, it may have had more relevance. As it stands it is more than 30 years removed from the end of the Vietnam War. The current political situation is obviously paralleled in the film, but in a rather tertiary way. The movie, however, seems to deal more with relationships in the backdrop of that time and one in particular (Lucy and Jude).
Jude is a Liverpool welder who travels to American to find his dad. He meets Max, who leads him to Lucy and the rest of the cast through "random" chance. The progression of the story is rather predictable : move to New York, subcultural references, drugs and the psychedelic, the War, anti-War movement, music, break-ups, reconciliations,etc. Throughout all this is the music. All Beatles all the time. There's also some nice cameos by Bono, Joe Cocker, Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek and even Cousin Brucie.
The bottom line is though this film is quite flawed and the characterizations could be called paper thin, this is a stylized love story psychedelic movie musical. It would probably be better if Tommy, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair and other psychedelic experiences didn't already exist. At the same time this film does not contribute in any way to the third wave of psychedelia. Though heavily derivate, predictable and depthless, I did not hate it, surprisingly. I found it strangely enjoyable.
I can't say I recommend this movie to others, especially since a movie like Once (which was highly recommended by so many and made Devin of CHUD cry) I found quite dull, underacted and generally underwhelming. I say if you liked Moulin Rouge and you don't hate the Beatles, then you should give this a try. Maybe all we truly need is more Beatles based films?
-Celluloid Rehab