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The Beatles' songs may have provided the soundtrack for the lives of those coming of age in the 1960s, but their extensive catalogue acts as the literal soundtrack in this romantic musical from visionary director Julie Taymor. Newcomer Jim Sturgess stars as Jude, a young man working on the docks in Liverpool. Eager to escape, he travels to Princeton where he meets Max (Joe Anderson). But it's his meeting with Max's younger sister Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) that changes him. They quickly fall in love, but their relationship is tested by the chaos of the late 1960s and Max's unwilling tour in Vietnam. Throughout the film, characters burst into classics from the Beatles: frat boys sing "With a Little Help from My Friends," while Uncle Sam bursts from a recruitment poster with strains of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)." U2's Bono makes a cameo as a counterculture leader and croons "I Am the Walrus," and actor-comedian Eddie Izzard provides a trippy rendition of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite." Sturgess has the voice, charm, and good looks to fill Shea Stadium with hordes of screaming young women. As Jude, he's earnest and certainly capable of carrying the film. Wood capably balances Lucy's naivet� and knowledge, easily moving between her love for Jude and her passion for her cause. Though the performances are strong, it's Taymor's gifted direction that makes ACROSS THE UNIVERSE so fascinating to watch. As in FRIDA and Broadway's THE LION KING, she proves herself an artist with creativity few can match. Director of photography Bruno Delbonnel also deserves praise for his contribution to the striking visuals. He has worked with Jean-Pierre Jeunet on AMELIE and A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, and he brings the same sense of romance and whimsy to this unique musical.

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"ACROSS THE UNIVERSE feels emotionally true both to the Beatles...and to the decade it remembers..." -- Stephen Holden , (New York Times)

4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's wonderful. A testament to both the enduring emotional power of the Fab Four's music...and Taymor's unbridled artistic brio..." -- Ian Nathan , (Empire)

"There are some neat hallucinogenic effects here....The infectious energy of the music lends the film a gleeful dynamism..." -- Samuel Wigley , (Sight and Sound)

"[A] vivid, vivacious film....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 upheavals of the U.S. in the late 1960s." -- Los Angeles Times Critic , (Los Angeles Times)

"The starry-eyed youths that inhabit her film -- and boldly offer fresh interpretations of songs that remain sacred to millions -- carry just the right balance of whimsy and respect..." -- Laura Kern , (Film Comment)

"As a delivery system for injecting a new generation with Beatles music, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is efficient as well as playful and ferocious." -- Grade: B -- Ken Tucker , (Entertainment Weekly)

"[W]hat unfolds as the movie blossoms, then darkens and finally finds peace and love, is a stylised musical drama set in and about a conflated American High '60s..." -- Mojo Staff , (Mojo)

3 stars out of 5 -- "Sturgess is an impressive new talent, and his raw vocals resemble a young John Lennon....This is an interesting visual and aural experience..." -- David Richardson , (Ultimate DVD)

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