Somewhere Across The Universe Skies Are Filled With Diamonds

I've grown up a rather passive fan of The Beatles, and Across the Universe was a magnificent surprise. I had actually forgotten it was a musical based on their music, but it proved to be quite a trip, pun assuredly intended.

The film is set in the 60s pitting star-crossed lovers an ocean apart. Other members fill out the rest of the cast around them and eventually Come Together in New York's village scene. The other members happen to include likenesses of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. A couple of cameos by Bono and Eddie Izzard even guest in the lovefest.

From kismet to falling apart to inevitable re-intimacy, the overall plot is predictable though not to its detriment. What is nowhere near predictable are the visuals. They are a superb form of re-imagined storytelling paralleling the music and lives of the Revolution-ary Beatles. Even starting around the halfway point, there was a lot of psychadelic imagery. They fit so right with what I guess the band was trying to get across ending in the penultimate message "All You Need Is Love."

If you're a fan of the Beatles or liked Moulin Rouge, consider a Ticket to Ride Across the Universe. It will anything but A Hard Day's Night. I couldn't help myself.

-- "I'll come 'round sometime and get that squeak out of your door."