Across the Universe

Yes! The first musical we've gotten to. Andrew hates all of my musicals. He only likes Sweeney Todd, which is his. Now, I'm going to be frank with all you readers out there, I don't like the Beatles. (Please keep reading my blog though!) However I do like Beatles songs when the Beatles aren't singing it, just like in this movie, or in Glee, or in the Olympic Closing Ceremonies. I thought Russel Brand actually did good! Anyway, Andrew hates when other people sing Beatles songs, so this was already not a good start. I made him watch this once before many years ago, and he didn't like it then. Well his feelings haven't changed.

We meet our main character Jude, who travels from grungy Liverpool England to good ole cookie cutter America in search of his biological father. Well, that doesn't turn out as wonderful as he hoped it would, so he ends up hanging out with his new friend Max. They become bosom buddies and after Max drops out of Princeton, they move to New York to live the Dream. They join a ragtag group of other people who are just as lost as they are and are looking for a way to survive in this world. In this group we have Prudence, a lesbian who spends half her time pining after women she can't have, until she finally accepts who she is and becomes comfortable with herself and her sexuality. There is also Sadie, the landlady of this group as well as Rockstar. Then there is JoJo, who has come to New York to escape the heartache after the loss of a loved one in the Detroit Riot. He joins Sadie's band and show's off his mad guitar skills.  Max's sister Lucy eventually joins the group after her sweetheart dies at Vietnam. Sadly though, Max is then drafted into the war. Before he departs they go on some crazy trip (both the traveling and hallucinogenic kind) where Eddie Izzard and Bono turn the movie from a film that is actually quite enjoyable, into a movie where you just go "WHAT!??"
Once they are back to reality, Max gets sent off to war while Lucy joins an antiwar activist group. She gets super caught up in it,3
. leaving poor little Jude behind. He has no cause to fight for and gets really depressed without Max. He starts throwing strawberries at the wall. Well he totally loses everything. Lucy, his sanity, and his free ticket into America. He gets shipped back off to Liverpool and tries to settle back in England but it just doesn't seem right anymore. Meanwhile, back in the states, Max is finally back after getting injured in the war, and Lucy's activist group gets a bit too radical. Jude decides to come back to the states the right way and goes through immigration laws, because he wants nothing to stop he and Lucy from being together. After success tears Sadie and JoJo apart, they finally get back together in an 'impromptu' concert on a roof. This too is where Lucy and Jude reconcile, and all is right with the world!

One thing I really like about this movie is the way that is blends in with real historical events and things. They go and eat at the Katz Delicatessen, the most famous deli in the world according to Andrew. As mentioned before, the Detroit Riot is a key part in one of our characters lives, and there is also a pretty awesome song being sung during it. There is also a riot at Columbia University and a protest gone wrong that Lucy is involved with. She narrowly escapes being blown up as her radical activist friends die from their own bomb. I'm not sure if these last ones are real, but it seems like they are.

Not only is there great music in this movie, but there is a lot of good commentary about the dichotomy between Small Town America and the Crazy, Unruly, Liberal world of New York.

 Back to the music. I have a hard time picking out who I think is the best singer in this movie.  I know we all fell in love with Jim Sturgess after finding out he can sing like an angel, but I find myself torn between Max and Jojo. I think Jojo wins just because of his rendition of Oh, Darling. The best song I think is the "Let it Be" that is being sung during the Detroit Riot and subsequent funerals. Both of these songs just have such raw emotion that I can't help but get goosebumps! For those of you who have seen the movie, what are your favorite songs/singers???

Oh, and Sadie is suppose to be a Janis Joplin figure, and Jojo is suppose to be a Jimi Hendrix figure. There are also some celebrity cameos. We have Joe Cocker, Bono, Eddie Izzard, and Salma Hayek all adding their voices to the soundtrack.

Andrew's Closing Thought:I don't even know what that movie's about!

Up Next: Alien