Take a Sad Song and Make it Better.

I saw Across the Universe this weekend. For those of you that haven't heard of it, check out the trailer.

Basically, it's a musical with songs written by the Beatles. They aren't the originals, and they're sung by the actors.

I definitely think that the makers of the film were heavily relying on the fame of the music for the success of the film...the plot is fairly formulaic and there are some pretty huge holes. I was sort of left with questions like, "Wait...who was this character?" or "She's in love with him?" or "How did they get back to the city?"

And being as it was set in the 60s, they have to make a political statement, right? There's a scene where troops are toting around the Statue of Liberty, crushing the tiny palm trees of Vietnam, singing "she's so heavy." Seriously. Ridiculous.

I enjoyed it, though. I was super entertained. I just wished they had a little more script and a little less social commentary. Maybe they had to cut some scenes for running time...perhaps a Director's Cut DVD will be really great? Who knows. And it's fun to look at...one of those movies with a lot of colors and wacky effects that some critic somewhere would call "visually stunning." If you're into good music and some pretty stuff on the screen, check it out. I would go see it again, even though it's got faults.

And "Hey, Jude" and "I've Just Seen a Face" have been stuck in my head ever since.