Across the Universe

I was blown away by this movie. The music! The music was incredible and made the movie that much more powerful. I already have the soundtrack on my computer. Its 31 Beatles songs performed by the actors in the movie each with their personal style wove onto the Beatles lyrics. Some bigger names cover songs and represent historic figures like Bono from U2 portraying Dr. Roberts and portrays the original LSD experiments. He does a great cover of I Am the Walrus. Joe Cocker comes out to play a pimp singing Come Together and comedian Eddie Izzard does his take on For the Benefit of Mr. Kite. The songs are great by themselves, but when you bring 10 musicians/performers together to pick and play a few songs and put it to a story on a big screen, it was unlike any movie I’ve ever seen. Jim Sturgess does an incredible job as a poor English boy named Jude roaming through America, meeting all kinds of great people and having some good times with drugs and music. The movie flows through events in Jude’s life, set to the music, while the 70’s unfold in the background. We see the transition from free love and peace to the civil rights movement and the violence that period of American history represents. Its interesting to see those songs performed not as a show or musical, but in a movie. It’s a musical yes, but this is much more than a musical. This is the embodiment of what the Beatles wanted to touch people with. This movie shows the reality about drug culture and how it is not limited to the degenerates of society. Across the Universe is all about the beginning of recreational drug use and its ties with music. I consider Across the Universe a must see, unless you don’t like the Beatles, and cannot wait to add it to my library.