Across the Universe

I went into Across the Universe thinking that I would probably hate the movie. My girlfriend made me watch it with her after she got it for Easter, because she absolutely loves it. I'm not a big fan of The Beatles, or chick flicks either, so I really wasn't looking forward to watching it. I don't think that it tainted my view of the movie, however; I just wanted to throw that out there so that you could keep that in mind.

Across the Universe tells the story of a man named Jude who goes to America during the 1960s, a time of unrest because of the Vietnam War. He gets involved with a group of people who become his good friends, and one girl who becomes a little bit more. However, she gets caught up in the radicals' movement to try and stop the Vietnam War. The whole movie is told as a musical, using Beatles' songs to portray the characters' feelings.

The movie does some things really well. For instance, the choreography is spot on. One of the places you can it see it done perfectly is the scene where they all go bowling and are singing and dancing on the bowling lanes. It makes great use of timing, and even if I'm not a performing arts aficionado, I can still recognize how difficult it must have been to choreograph each part.

Another cool scene is where Max is inducted into the army, and as he is being tested there is a military dance and song while he is pushed along on a conveyor belt. It shows the disregard for the men as individuals, and the choreograph of sameness really shows this theme.

The acting adds another really good quality to the movie. Everyone did a great job, even if the British accents were a little annoying. The problem with the movie that I had was the story. I think that the meshing of the uncertainties of war alongside the uncertainties of love was a really interesting move, but the love story is not a strong enough story in my opinion. The movie is two hours long but could have been told in an hour and a half. I think there are too many unnecessary scenes of psychedelia that are too drawn out, and random, to really merit so much time in the movie. Most of them seem to be interludes to just lengthen the movie, and also to explore the creative ideas that the team had to make the movie feel a bit "trippy." Yet they don't add much of a point to the movie at all except for giving a 60s feel, and even at that, it feels a little overdone.

Also, I became a little bored because the jumps in time that happen continuously don't even amount to too much. I feel like a lot of the movie, while it does flesh out the relationships with the characters, doesn't add too much to the whole movie overall.

Then, there's the cornyness factor. A scene where Jude is painting his girl's features comes to a line where he coos, "I wanted to get your eyes right." Right there, my mouth dropped open, not in romantic bliss, but in disappointment that the line was so corny. The last scene, too, reeks of fantastical adventures in romance, where I wasn't even worried that Jude and his girl would be reunited because of the fact that it's a happy-ever-after movie, no doubt about it. Because all you need is love.

Anyway, for every good feature that I did like about the movie, there was an equally disappointing one that kept me from being immersed in the romance, or feeling the love, for Across the Universe. As it is, I don't hate it - I could take it or leave it. I'm glad I experienced it, but it's not a movie that'll make me cry and think for the next 15 minutes on the events of its world. Too many insubstantial scenes kept me from really enjoying what the movie had to offer.