Across the Universe (PG-13)

Running Time : 2 hours, 15 minutes
Directed by Julie Taymor
Starring Evan Rachel Wood

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Synopsis:

Across the Universe is a film that incorporates the music of the Beatles. Beatles fans will be able to spot the intricate ways that the lyrics and the characters of the songs are interwoven throughout the film. Across the Universe is directed by famed theatrical director Julie Taymor, who is well known for her groundbreaking work on the Broadway production of The Lion King, and for the Oscar-winning Frida.

Roger Ebert writes: “Here is a bold, beautiful, visually enchanting musical where we walk into the theater humming the songs. Julie Taymor's Across the Universe is an audacious marriage of cutting-edge visual techniques, heart-warming performances, 1960s history and the Beatles songbook.”

Across the Universe is a love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s amid the turbulent years of antiwar protest, mind exploration, and rock and roll. The film moves from the dockyards of Liverpool and the creative psychedelia of Greenwich Village to the riot-torn streets of Detroit and Vietnam. Jude and Lucy are swept up into the emerging antiwar-counterculture movements. They are also joined by a small group of friends and musicians, with Dr. Robert and Mr. Kite as their guides. Tumultuous forces outside their control ultimately tear the young lovers apart, forcing Jude and Lucy--against all odds--to find their own way back to each other.

"All you need is love -- for the Beatles, for psychedelic visuals, for ideas about being young in the ‘60s -- to fully enjoy Across the Universe." -Justin Chang, Variety