Overlooked Greatness: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007)

These films may have missed the mainstream’s radar…but they will be seared indelibly onto yours.

You bring up ACROSS THE UNIVERSE in conversation with a few friends, and they all have an opinion. Either it was too “all over the place” or too “Moulin-Rouge-y,” but ask your dear friends when they saw the movie—Was it with you? Or with someone else?—and they’ll have to confess: they downloaded it on their iPod Touch, or worse, they haven’t even seen it. They just have their smacking loud opinions.

You and I both know it—and if you don’t know it, I’m here to tell you: ACROSS THE UNIVERSE was great. If you haven’t seen it yet, please, my dears, update your queue. And here are five reasons why I wholeheartedly recommend you get that shit.

1. Historical relevance: ATU portrays an era that, at the time of its release and even now, is historically relevant. It borders on preaching a bit, what with our leading female’s overly can-do quest to aggressively flip off The Man, but the music mellows the message. And you don’t need to sew a pair of hemp pants or burn a bra to get down with some ‘60s counterculture. They were in the midst of war; we are in the midst of war. They were young, impressionable and hungry to make a difference; we are in quarter- or mid-life crises, still responsive to stunt casting in advertising (I want the new Rock Band, Michael Phelps!) and experimenting with vegetarianism. They sang about their dilemmas; we posted youtube videos about ours. We are kindred, and the relevance of that historical tie should make you—or your friends—feel at least a small sense of familiarity with the tale.
2. Musical marvelousness: You’re right—it’s not a word. But it does aptly describe the 33 fantastically inspired musical numbers that anchored the heart of this film. Their portrayal didn’t always make sense, but did the Beatles songs all make sense? I am the Walrus? Just go in to this film knowing you’re about to watch a two-hour Beatles music video, and you’ll fare much better. Now, I’ve heard in some circles it’s considered “cool” to hate the Beatles—these are the same circles that think it’s “cool” to enter a conversation about TITANIC by asking, “What happens in that movie?”—and to those circles, I say, “SHAME.” Sure, they only really played about three chords. But they defined an era, in all their goo goo ga joob glory; so if you’ve worn or even thought about wearing tight pants, shaggy hair or anything yellow, you need to embrace the Beatles.
3. Artistic awesomeness: For the color saturation alone, ATU is worth a wide-eyed stare. That’s why I scoff at your buddy with the touch-screen gadget sitting on the big corner couch at Starbucks thinking he’s got the best view of the movie. The best view is on the big screen, mister. And if you don’t own one, at least mooch off someone who does. Yes, that’s a TV in my pants, and yes, I’m delighted to see you. 52 inches of HD glory, and you are invited over to play—provided you don’t talk during the road trip scene. Give me Bono tripped out in a Scooby Doo bus crossing the country with a contortionist from a circus freak show, and I will salute you. Artistic awesomeness.
4. Great casting: I love unknown, un-Hollywood-ified actors. I think you do, too. If you liked Tom Cruise in RISKY BUSINESS, Vince Vaughn in SWINGERS or heck, even Shia LaBeouf in SHAKER HEIGHTS (maybe?) then you do, too. Now let me be clear—I am not comparing Jim Sturgess to any of these people; I’m just saying he hasn’t been tainted by stardom yet—at least not in this picture—and hence is rather enjoyable to watch. There’s something about an actor not knowing how good he is that bleeds through the screen, and that’s what I liked about Sturgess and his costars Evan Rachel Wood and Joe Anderson. A little raw and a little rough led to a lot of good.
5. Cameos galore: We’ve got Bono, Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek, Joe Cocker…and Neil Patrick Harris might not like it, but sometimes stunt casting makes for good action. So come for the music and the beauty, but stay to count the familiar faces. It might make for a good drinking game.

Clearly, I’m a fan of this film. Unfortunately, the hurdles surrounding ATU’s release got in the way of its coronation within the hall of Great Musical Movies of All Time. Not only did artistic differences abound between the director and producers both on set and during post, but these differences even led the distribution companies to wash their hands of the film’s marketing, reportedly. And why shouldn’t they? They got their paycheck. Furthermore, the skeptics turned a judgy eye on Beatles songs being sung by—not the Beatles, not Michael Jackson—but by virtual inconnus. It was a bit too much for them to handle, and instead of trying to cope, they just moved on. Poor ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.

Look, it’s true, she doesn’t make sense every time she opens her mouth, but she’s still a looker. And she’s got personality! She also rolls deep with weed, mushrooms and LSD. What more do you want? Just bake her something special, maybe brownies, and take her out already. But remember that HD-TV (she’s a little high maintenance). Let me know how it goes.

Click here to see this post at RopeofSilicon.com.