Movie Review - Across the Universe

I'll try and avoid the sometimes silly cliches used throughout the movie "Across the Universe" and say I love this film yeah, yeah, yeah (Oops, sorry!) Using many songs from the Beatles library for its soundtrack, "Across the Universe" is part of a movement that has been taking place over the past several years to inject a new style into telling the traditional coming of age story. In a similar vein to films like "Moulin Rouge" and "A Knights Tale", "Across the Universe" includes pop music as not only the soundtrack, but also as another character in the story.

The movie takes place in the 1960s, as a group of teens and twentysomethings are making the transition from high school to college and beyond. Main character Jude is on the search for the father he never knew, leading him from his hometown of Liverpool to the campus of Princeton University in the US. At Princeton he meets up with Max, a fun loving, carefree guy who soon ditches college life to move to New York to live with Jude and a collection of fellow bohemians. Along the way, Jude meets and falls in love with Max's sister, Lucy. These characters experience the gamut from falling in love to heartbreak, to jealousy, and even a call to activism in a war protest. The events coincide with the Vietnam War, and are all experienced through songs of the Beatles. The visual effects are stunning and really accentuate the psychedelic aura of that time.

Look for a few notable guest appearances from the likes of Bono and Joe Cocker throughout the movie. I really enjoyed hearing Beatles music (sung quite well, I might add) used to play out a variety of life experiences. The term "movie musical" gets thrown around for movies like this, and it really fits in this case.

While I know Paul McCartney was rightfully upset when Beatles songs started turning up in Nike commercials and such, I think that himself, along with Ringo and the other surviving Beatles family members, should be pleased at the clever way Beatles music was brought in for "Across the Universe".

I recommend you see this movie in a theater while you can - the visual effects really are best seen on a big screen. Even so, watch this movie at some point, even if it is at home.

To read more articles about music, check out http://www.musicandband.com