Some Dazzling Intervals With The Fab Four; Mediocre Plot

Rating: 6/10 (25 February 2013)

With Julie Taymor's name on the film, one expects an imaginative and colorfully individual treatment, and the Beatles songs provide just that--ranging from tender to trippy, and sometimes even to bizarre; the musical sections of this film are often an unmitigated delight, especially to anyone who grew up with The Beatles--rather refreshing to see how each familiar song is dovetailed into the plot--which, sadly, is the weak point of the film, an all-too-familiar rehash of the musical Hair in many ways, but without Hair's cutting-edge satire. One can see how the scriptwriters thought that transporting an English lad named Jude to the U.S. during the Vietnam conflict and having him meet Lucy, might make for an amusing meet-cute narrative, but in contrast to what's been done with the songs, the plot is far too predictable and unsurprising. Still, a sweet film in many ways, well worth watching as a collection of fascinating MTV-style videos