Across the Universe. All you need is love. A dock worker Jude (Jim Sturgess) travels to America in the 1960s to find his estranged father. There he falls in love with sheltered American teenager Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). When her brother Max (Joe Anderson) is drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, they become involved in peace activism. Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Joe Anderson. Musical. Written by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais. Directed by Julie Taymor. Rating: PG-13

FILM SYNOPSIS: A whimsical musical/love story set against the backdrop of the turbulent anti-war protests of the 1960s, the film moves from the dockyards of Liverpool to the creative psychedelia of Greenwich Village, from the riot-torn streets of Detroit to the killing fields of Vietnam. The star-crossed lovers, Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), along with a small group of friends and musicians, are swept up into the emerging anti-war and counterculture movements, with “Dr. Robert” (Bono) and “Mr. Kite” (Eddie Izzard) as their guides. Tumultuous forces outside their control ultimately tear the young lovers apart, forcing Jude and Lucy – against all odds – to find their own way back to each other.

PREVIEW REVIEW: It’s a psychedelic salute to the hippy-dippy, turn-on, tune-out ‘60s generation whose Mecca was Haight-Ashbury and mantra was “Hell no, we won’t go.” Driven by the Beatles songbook (it seems like the actors sing every song the Fab Four ever conceived), the film has a stylish look and sincere performances, but director Julie Taymor (Frida, Titus, and the Broadway smash hit musical The Lion King) and writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (The Commitments) glorify the cartoonish behavior of that time with little regard for its disastrous naiveté.

But I won’t write-off the filmmakers’ ability. They have a point of view and express it with earnestness. In the press notes, director Taymor says, “You constantly have to revisit these stories in order to reflect upon your present and really think, ‘What is it that’s different now?’ That era is explicitly important to our time now.”

True. If we deny the past, we are doomed to relive it. But comparing the battling in Viet Nam with our situation in Iraq may be disastrously misguided. I hesitate stating political views, but that’s the covert reality of Across the Universe. As usual filmmakers only present one perspective, a dangerous prerogative when dealing with world issues. Sometimes evil must be faced and fought, not placated. And having lived through that time, I’m just not sure all the radical discourse of that era was truthfully done with pure motives. The revolution wasn’t just against man’s authority, but God’s, as well.

It was a troubling age as the youth of America found little satisfaction in the complicity of its elders and sought profundity anywhere but at the feet of their folks. Added to a dawning awareness of unequal rights and the disillusionment with political authority, the 1960s were dominated by an unpopular war in a distant land known as Viet Nam. Alas, whatever righteousness the youth movement found in fighting injustice became sickened by a cancerous rebellion for rebellion’s sake. Ultimately, the peace/love generation proved to be no more enlightened than any other. All the revolt against the system and all the self-exploration imaginable are eventually found to be disillusioning when Christ-awareness is denied. And the comparison these filmmakers attempt with today’s social dissatisfaction is colored by rose-tinted granny glasses, like those once worn by the Honky Tonk Women of whom many a young man said, “She blew my nose and then she blew my mind.” Oh, sorry, that’s the Stones, not the Beatles.

Long (2 hrs 14 min.), excessive (too many musical numbers that bemoan the status quo), dreary (lots of distress due to the war-is-hell theme and countless unsettled relationships), and I suspect it’s only metaphorical if you’re stoned. And I don’t recommend that.

Distributor: Sony Pictures


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(Disclaimer: These are the views of the author and not necessarily the staff of JesusJournal. Given the synopsis and content, concerned parents and moviegoers can decide if the new releases are suitable for viewing.)