Across The Universe (2007) 5/10

Starring : Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess
Director : Julie Taymor
Running Time : 134 mins

Liverpudlian Jude (Strugess) and American Lucy (Wood) meet by chance when Jude travels to the USA to find his father. Surrounded by friends and family affected by the war effort, the two form an unlikely bond as she tries to cope with her brother being called up for military service and he tries to deal with discovering that his father is a janitor.

I guess you’d have to be a huge Beatles fan to enjoy this musical. There is very little story linking the songs or even the characters together – instead this appears to just be a series of songs linked together by an era rather than a plot, and the whole war-torn world theme is a little weak as a link. The only way this could have worked is if, at the end, all the characters come together (no pun intended) and connect over a single event, but as it is the connection of the war effort feels a little weak and tacked on. Plus the relationship between the two leads does not feel plausible to me – for most of the film I felt that Lucy really didn’t like Jude, so it’s strange that a romance springs from this, and in an unlikely way.

You’ll like this if you liked : Moulin Rouge!