Cauldron

Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: A & E

Media Credit: Columbia Pictures U2's Bono stars in Revolution Studios' Across the Universe as Dr. Robert.

Some things are just sacred. As a Beatles fan, I hate when individuals - or even worse, retail giants - take it upon themselves to improve on what is already classic. As many have done before her, director Julie Taymor treads on well-worn ground with her musical love story, "Across the Universe."

When I discovered the names of the two young lovers, Lucy and Jude, I cringed. I feared it foreshadowed the pair singing their namesake songs to each other in a cheesy manner. In fact, all of the main characters have Beatles-inspired names, which only serves to further disappoint.

Yet, something happened to me in the two hours I sat in the theater-- I began to enjoy the movie. I started to like the characters and care about their trials and tribulations. The fact that they sang and danced felt secondary.

The film opens with a morose young man, Jude (Jim Sturgess), sitting on an English beach remembering the last time he saw his lost love, Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood). However, the film does not truly begin until it shows how this man came to be here without his lover.

Jude leaves his hometown of Liverpool for America, in search of his true father. On his journey, he befriends a wild Ivy-Leaguer named Max (Joe Anderson). They quickly become such close friends that Max decides to bring Jude home for Thanksgiving. Over the holiday, Jude becomes enamored of Max's sister, Lucy.

Once Max and Jude move to New York City, they share an apartment with an aspiring singer named Sadie (Dana Fuchs). At the same time, a young high school cheerleader named Prudence (T.V. Carpio) is unhappy with her current situation and hitchhikes her way to New York. The characters then all become intertwined in the city.

One of the most touching scenes in the movie is one of complete chaos. While word of Lucy's boyfriend's death in Vietnam hits home, simultaneously, a young boy is caught in the middle of rioting in Detroit. The boy, huddled in front of the remnants of a burning car, sings the opening lines of "Let it Be." These two grief-filled moments lead two more characters on a life-changing path to New York City.

The songs were carefully chosen and well-implemented. Each served to accent the story that unfolds on screen. "With a Little Help from My Friends" cemented the relationship between Jude and Max.

Continued...

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