Across the Universe (2007)
Directed by Julie Taymor
When young dockworker Jude leaves Liverpool to find his estranged father in the United States, he is swept up by the waves of change that are re-shaping the nation. Jude falls in love with Lucy, who joins the growing anti-war movement. As the body count in Vietnam rises, political tensions at home spiral out of control and the star-crossed lovers find themselves in a psychedelic world gone mad.
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What critics compared Across the Universe to
As Beatles jukebox musicals with people other than the Beatles singing the songs go- and its flaws notwithstanding- "Yesterday" is a significant improvement over 2007's "Across the Universe."
And unlike its contemporary, Across the Universe , the film never comes off as an attempt to fully recapture the spirit of the Beatles and what their songs truly mean in context.
Instead, I was left confused, thinking of all the songs they didn’t bother including, and asking myself why I suddenly wanted to go home and watch Across the Universe instead.
Julie Taymor, famous as the director of " The Lion King " on Broadway, is a generously inventive choreographer, such as in a basic-training scene where all the drill sergeants look like G.I. Joe; a sequence where inductees in Jockey shorts carry the Statue of Liberty through a Vietnam field, and cross-cutting between dancing to Beatles clone bands at an American high school prom and in a Liverpool dive bar.
No surprise here, since Taymor has lavished her extravagant theatrical imagination on Broadway musicals (The Lion King), operas (The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera) and movies (a gory, oneiric Titus Shakespeare as a splatter film and the more pedestrian Frida).
Taymor (Frida, Titus, Broadway's The Lion King) and screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (Flushed Away, The Commitments) weave songs from the Beatles catalog into the plot's tie-dyed fabric, yielding the cheeriest head-trip of a movie musical since the band's own Yellow Submarine.
Director/conceptualist Julie Taymor brought Disney's "The Lion King" to Broadway and Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus" to the multiplex, but with her latest extravaganza, she merely brings the Beatles to grief.
The director won a Tony for her Broadway musical "The Lion King," and her films "Frida" and "Titus" are visual dazzlers.
Taymor (Broadway’s The Lion King, the films Titus and Frida) is an artist of audacious daring and remarkable self-confidence.
With the action scenes playing like production numbers in some high-concept musical, you'll be reminded of Julie Taymor's Beatles fantasia, Across the Universe.
Say what you will about Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby or Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe, but for as messy and flawed as they clearly are they remain artistic visions of periods long gone.
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From “Across the Universe” to “21” to “One Day” to “Upside Down,” this guy repeatedly contributes nothing (or less) to movies that are, at best, extremely challenging to endure.
Sturgess has gained a dubious reputation for phoned-in leading-man roles in expensive flops ( Across the Universe , Upside Down , Cloud Atlas ) and contributes another pallid performance here, not helped by the unfortunate juxtaposition with Caine and Kingsley's barnstorming turns.
But then you notice that the stars are Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Kate Beckinsale (Underworld), which is certainly interesting enough to make one look a little closer, and note that the supporting cast includes people like Michael Caine (Get Carter), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi), Sinead Cusack (V for Vendetta), Brendan Gleeson (28 Days Later), Jason Flemyng (Below), and David Thewlis (The Big Lebowski) … and if you’re any sort of film fan, you then peer in for an even closer look.
The women are beautiful, there's some toilet and sex humor, they talk about their feelings, and there's a love interest (note: Chris O'Dowd rules the school as the most charming, crush-inducing object of affection since Michael Shoeffling in Sixteen Candles, or Jim Sturgess in Across the Universe).
However, in the wake of “Moulin Rouge,” “ Hairspray ,” “ Chicago ” and “Across the Universe,” the movie’s old-fashioned approach just feels old-fashioned.
Mamma Mia! mostly avoids the pitfalls that tripped up Julie Taymor's Across the Universe .
No one doubts the songwriting ability of Lennon and McCartney and yet no movie that features cover versions of their work--even Across the Universe really does justice to the original songs.
There’s beautifully lit cinematography by France’s Bruno Delbonnel, who lensed stylish efforts like Amélie and Across the Universe.
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Picked up by dad Paul (Bill Irwin, "Dark Matter," "Across the Universe") and stepmother Carol (Anna Deavere Smith, "The Human Stain," "The Kingdom"), Rachel acts like a rock star, demanding a soft drink from a soda fountain, constantly lighting up and airily noting she'll handle her bags as dad struggles with them in her wake.
When revelations are finally uncovered and the viewer is given the full picture of what has happened in this family's life to damage them so badly, the results are devastating, performed to perfection from Rosemarie DeWitt (2005's " Cinderella Man "), as wearied sister Rachel; Bill Irwin (2007's " Across the Universe "), heartbreakingly trying in vain to keep peace with everyone while unraveling himself as father Paul; and a very welcome, rarely seen anymore Debra Winger, a cage of silent grief and resentment as mother Abby.
As Dexter, Sturgess — who has appeared in films from "21" to "Across the Universe" — deftly balances charm and smarm.
If you’re a man, “One Day,” a British romantic comedy featuring Anne Hathaway and English actor Jim Sturgess (“Across the Universe”), is going to feel like two days, at least.
Jim Sturgess is best known for “Across the Universe.”
Sturgess, playing a broader range than in "Across the Universe" or "21," is able -- though, fittingly for his role, he still sort of coasts on that young Paul McCartney/puppy dog thing he's got going.
The lesser-known Sturgess has an easy charm - he has also appeared in "21" and "Across the Universe."
She's paired with Jim Sturgess, the forgettably handsome brooder from Across the Universe, a decent actor saddled with a shallow role.