Nothing to Get Hung Up About

I saw a film today, oh boy: “Across the Universe” is a misguided spectacle, an uneven result of imagination without purpose. It weaves 31 Beatles songs into the lives of its characters, whose very names (Lucy, Jude, Max…) are nods to old Lennon/McCartney standards. Some of the references are very clever, but many are reduced to tired gimmicks that get old pretty fast.

Yes, the songs are well-executed by a solid cast, but they don’t leave much room for a storyline. I never thought I’d write these words about a group of fantastic Beatles songs, but so be it: Enough already.

The film stars Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess as Lucy and Jude, star-crossed lovers who have a habit of breaking into song at the most inappropriate times. There’s a part where Jude interrupts Lucy at her job by storming into her office – he tries to win her over with “Revolution,” but she’s too stunned and embarrassed to listen. When her boss tells him to leave, Jude confronts him, gives him a swift punch in the face and continues singing. When he finally finishes, Lucy is not amused: “What is the matter with you?! Why would you do that?!”

She’s just as confused as we are: Why would he do that? Because the movie requires him to, I guess, but even that could be overlooked if the plot didn’t seem like a flimsy pretext for the songs. Why does Prudence lock herself in a closet, for example? So the other characters can coax her out with “Dear Prudence,” naturally.

I don’t have a problem with the songs themselves, but it doesn’t work to represent them literally, like when the army sings “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” while dragging the Statue of Liberty across a desert, or when Jude observes which particular window Prudence came in through, or when Max pounds at a broken fan with his silver hammer. (Well, if it wasn’t broken before…)

The performances themselves are believable and even absorbing, particularly Joe Anderson as Max, who unfortunately spends most of the second act off-screen. Many of the cameos are enjoyable, most notably Bono’s Dr. Robert, a Ken Kesey clone whose most memorable lines are the ones lifted from Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.” (“New York is about two years behind,” “You’re either on the bus or off the bus,” etc.) Selma Hayek is seductively macabre while she dances to “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” although her role as a pretty nurse would’ve made more sense if “Penny Lane” were on the soundtrack instead. Joe Cocker’s cover of “Come Together” is impressive and soulful, but he doesn’t look very convincing as a pimp. (Yes. That’s what he’s dressed as.)

Having said that, “Across the Universe” clearly has the potential of a musical epic, but not the depth of one. The Beatles wrote some of the greatest music of our time, but it can’t support this kind of material on its own. Without a meaningful narrative, movies like “Across the Universe” are vacant, pointless and forgettable. If you don’t believe me, try to remember the last time you felt like watching “Magical Mystery Tour.”