Across The Universe

I saw the previews over the summer and I knew right away it was a movie I had to catch. It came to O Town a few weeks ago but the only theaters that were showing it were down by Disney. This week it finally came to Altamonte. Blue Eyes and I caught it last night.

The reviews were very good so we had high hopes we weren't going to be disappointed. We weren't. A few reviews compared it to one of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge. That movie was a feast for the senses. It was similar in that there was more singing than dialog and also very visually appealing. However, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor's singing were superior to the singers in this one but I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

The movie is a musical based on The Beatles songbook and set in the 60s England and America. It's also a love story intertwined with the anti-war movement and social protests of the 60s. If you love The Beatles music the way we do it's a must watch.

It was fun to catch all the subtle references to Beatles songs. It started with the list of characters. The main characters were Jude and Lucy. Other characters were Prudence, Sadie, JoJo, Maxwell and Bono from U2 playing Dr. Robert. He was hilarious. Joe Cocker also made a cameo. I don't want to give them all away but in one scene Prudence suddenly appears in the apartment and somebody asks "Where did she come from?" and someone shouts "She came in through the bathroom window." Blue Eyes and I looked at each other and smiled. We got it but it seemed no one else around us did. The crowd in the theater was much younger that what I thought would be there. I don't know. Maybe they got it too but were too cool to show it and just laughed at the two old farts giggling and nudging each other throughout the movie.

Back to the music... If I was a little disappointed it was at some of the singing. The lead characters' voices were a little week and it didn't help that many of their songs started out acapella. After a while the music would join in. I think I just keep comparing it to Moulin Rouge where all the songs were major productions carried by great voices. The only exception was Sexy Sadie. Boy, she had a great Janis Joplin-like voice.

My favorite parts were the scenes for the song For The Benefit of Mr. Kite and the underwater scenes.





I've never done any kind of illegal drugs (that's for another post) but I would imagine it would be something like these scenes.

The Pilgrim gives it 4 out of 5 strawberries. He says check it out.