The Tri-Lite

Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Julie Ivers "All You Need Is Love"

"All you need is love." Back in August, I was sitting at the Neshaminy Mall movie theater, munching on popcorn and rolling my eyes at the previews. Usually, upcoming movies look pretty good, but at the end of the day, I always seem to watch them On Demand. That was until I saw a young guy sitting on a beach singing "Girl" by the Beatles. The movie was called "Across the Universe" and it looked like a collection of Beatles songs that intertwined around a group of friends whose lives changed throughout the sixties. I had to see it.

Now, I have a background in musical theater and I adore Moulin Rouge and Chicago, but my boyfriend is the total opposite; however, he really likes the Beatles, so I got him to come with me and my parents to see the movie. As excited as I was, my boyfriend was ready for a two-hour nap. Yet, from the moment the movie began with "Girl" until it ended with "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," I noticed both he and my dad were still very awake and interested. It was fantastic! The director, Julie Taymor, did an exceptional job incorporating over 20 Beatles songs, vivid colors, fun, laughs, war, and tears. It really captured the change in the decade, as well as the strength of the human spirit, and for that matter, love. My parents also noted how well the movie portrayed the "times" and how relatable the characters were.

Across the Universe really showed the strength behind the youth of the era, as well as the power of love, especially between the two main characters, Lucy and Jude. The two faced all the difficulties of the time: losing loved ones, rallying for peace, growing apart, losing one another, and fearing for their lives. In the end, "It's easy. All you need is love." The music had the entire theater singing and clapping along as the two struggled throughout the movie. A very poignant part of the movie is when Lucy, Jude, and their friends take a trip with Robert Plant, played by Bono, and they go to Mr. K's flying circus, run by their ringleader, Eddie Izzard. Selma Hayek also has a cameo in "Happiness is a Warm Gun" as a nurse in the Army Hospital.

I am absolutely in love with "Across the Universe," as is The Chicago Sun Times' Roger Ebert, who said, "...a bold, beautiful, visually enchanting musical..." The movie runs about three hours, but every minute is mesmerizing. My boyfriend, the skeptic, admitted, "I'd see it again, but only because it had [so much of the Beatles' music]." I feel, though, that even if you are not the biggest Beatles fan or you are not familiar with their music, you would still love this movie for its message and its true capturing of the times. It is one of those movies that stays with you for days after you have seen it, and I guarantee you will have Beatles songs from the movie in your head until you cave and buy the soundtrack.

I would recommend the Deluxe Edition of the Across the Universe soundtrack, which is sold at Best Buy and includes every song in the movie. Across the Universe is one of those movies that everyone is talking about and I believe it will go down as a classic. So, "Come Together, Right Now," and see Across the Universe!

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools