Monday, November 9, 2009

The Craziest Acid Trip I Never Had

Across The Universe is perhaps the tripiest film I have ever seen (yes, even more so than the drunken elephant bubble scene in Dumbo).

This musical tale of war, protest and, of course, love follows Jude, a young man from Liverpool who comes to the U.S.A. to track down his father, a janitor at Princeton University. From there he meets up with Max, a delinquent Ivy League brat who loves to piss off just about anyone he can. Through Max, Jude meets Max's sister Lucy and it is this couple that our story follows.

When Across the Universe finally came out in 2007, myself and quite a few friends were eager to see it because for a few days it had taken over the street in front of our dorm on 5th Ave. Freshmen year. Additionally, its release had been pushed back several times and we kept seeing previews for it and wondering when it was going to be released.

I personally know some people who went to see it when it came out and I heard some mixed reviews; finally I got around to seeing the film, and as stated earlier, its tripy. The music is enjoyable (I mean, it's the Beatles, how can it not be?) and the cinematography is amazing too (and not just in the obvious parts like in the bowling alley), although some choices didn't quite work for me, but eh, not a big deal.

Story wise I'd say this film is so-so. It more or less delivered on what it was trying to say, it just took a rather long route in doing so, spanning over 2 hours, it could have been cut down in a few areas. Overall though, not a bad story, just try not to forget about it during the extreme tripy moments of the film (and there are quite a few).

I personally enjoy choreographed musicals so it was kinda fun for me to watch, if that's not what you enjoy, avoid. My recommendation, if you have 2 hours to spare, it wouldn't hurt to check out the film.

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