Movie reviews, production notes, and more! - "Across the Universe"

Movie Review: Across the Universe

Film Review By Jessica Reaves, Tribune staff reporter It's the oldest story in the world: Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl joins radical student organization hell-bent on ending the Vietnam War, boy's passion devolves into paranoia, boy returns to work in a Liverpool shipyard. Months pass before they simultaneously arrive at a wholly unoriginal yet heartwarming conclusion: All You Need, it turns out, Is Love. We've just given away the major plot points of "Across the Universe," Julie Taymor's uncharacteristically chipper rock opera, but plot is hardly the point here. Music - the Beatles' music - lies at the heart of this film; the iconic songs, sung by the film's energetic, talented cast, propel the characters through the public and private upheavals of the U.S. in the late 1960s. While her movie is certainly unique, Taymor clearly owes much to Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge." "Universe" is also an intensely visual experience, and that's where Taymor excels. Although she helmed 2002's "Frida" and 1999's "Titus Andronicus," she's best known as the force behind the Tony-winning Broadway production of "The Lion King," which introduced the masses to her signature costume designs. Anyone who's seen "Lion King" and marveled at ... read more Official Web Site: http://acrosstheuniverse.com/ Back to main movie page Showing Today at: Click here for other showings