Very few modern day movies manage to combine the best of American and British culture in the past and present. Even fewer (if any) manage to do it while reworking an entire collection of Beatles’ songs and encapsulating the history of the 60’s in flashes of imagery. Across the Universe attempts to bring all of these slices of apple-pie together in a tightly wrapped package complete with psychedelic ribbon. While some consider the result to be an utter failure (“A yawn and most unforgivably features some appalling arrangements of the Beatles’ best-loved songs.” –Washington Post), others believe Across the Universe is a complete ode to Americana with a modern twist (“Here is a bold, beautiful, visually enchanting musical where we walk INTO the theater humming the songs.” – Chicago Sun Times.)

Early on the film declares itself as taking two different vantage points, one of which attempts to cover the generational conflicts of the 60’s, the other being a more personal level concerned with the characters on personal torments and triumphs. Across the Universe is not only built around such context it also relies on the timelines to generalize the characters’ progression.

Directed by Julie Taymor, Across the Universe reflects her avant-garde approach to directing, which seemingly has no limits. For instance a wonderfully choreographed water ballet somehow fits into Across the Universe without coming off as fruity or overdone. This fearless tenacity gained Taymor mass popularity by turning Disney’s The Lion King into a major success on Broadway (as well as silver screen success with Titus and Frida). Of course it is important to note that this is by far Taymor’s most ambitious venture yet, not only due to her eye for her cast but also puppetry, 3-D animation and 60’s Americana (all of which she makes ample use of) but also because of everything she attempts to fit into a mere 133 minutes.

Some might expect such a grand compilation of subjects to be attacked by a directing Giant, such as Baz Luhrmann who proved his commercial appeal with a similarly tailored Moulin Rouge. While a 60’s rendition of Moulin Rouge would certainly be interesting, but Taymor’s attention to detail manages to mesh the Vietnam War, the Columbia student riots and 33 Beatles songs all into one constantly moving epic. Managing to condense so much popular culture and real-world history (albeit a bit altered) into such a small scope is worthy of praise alone.

The story, as with most musicals, revolves around a couple of young lovers thrown together by circumstance. Jude, played by Jim Sturgess, is a Liverpool dockworker who travels to America in search of his long lost father. While state-side he meets a young man, Max (played by the amusing Joe Anderson), who in turn ends up introducing him to Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood), Max’s younger sister. From there the story throws the characters into a world of war, sex, drugs and rock n’ roll in a winding and sometimes sickening path through 1960s New York City.

“I Want You/She’s So Heavy” is perhaps the best (if not the most literal) example of Across the Universe’s more demented moments. Max, after being drafted, enters into basic training before being sent away to Vietnam. The first thing that greats him is a giant poster of Uncle Sam which comes to life and begins singing a cover of the Beatles song, “I want you, I want you so bad…” while pointing his large finger directly at Max. What follows is a brilliantly choreographed military dance complete with new recruits stripped to their skivvies and medically examined by G.I. Joe like figures wearing massive Expressionist masks.

Other feats include the early favorite, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” sung by Prudence (T.V. Carpio), a closeted small-town lesbian in love with a fellow cheerleader. Such a seemingly happy song is transformed into a somber and longing ballad. Dana Fuchs, who plays Sadie, portrays a larger than life character that whose inspiration is blatantly Janis Joplin. When she sings “Helter Skelter” the walls practically crumble beneath her vocal power.

The movie also manages to pull in cameos including Joe Cocker, Salma Hayek and even more recent music icons such as Bono, who plays an LSD driven New-Age doctor who takes our main characters on a magic bus tour of America. Most notable though is Eddie Izzard who makes a brief, though very impressionable, appearance as a white-faced Circus ring leader singing “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite.”

By far the two stars of the movie are Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood who not only carry the bulk of the vocal weight but also manage to make every song its own individual piece of the story. Sturgess, a newcomer to the big screen, not only looks like a young Paul McCartney but also sings with the soul of John Lennon. Wood, as always (Thirteen, Running With Scissors), shines without seeming to try very hard even when singing the lamenting and painful “If I Fell”.

The most striking and memorable moment in the movie comes to fruition when Sturgess breaks into the pin-ultimate 60’s Beatles song, “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Jude, a struggling artist, begins to sing following a fight with his girlfriend. Jude, while working with fresh strawberries on blank canvasses smokes a joint and somberly begins to sing. What begins simply enough eventually breaks through its own barriers as Sturgess flexes his vocal muscle while pinning strawberries to a white canvas while they slowly bleed bright red down the screen. The strawberries soon become metaphors as he throws them around the room, destroying his own work while background images transform the fruit into bombs reigning down on Southeast Asia.

This is the heavy-handed imagery that Across the Universe makes use of liberally. While the allusions and songs pull at every baby-boomer’s heart, the story and context come out of their period and manage to mirror current issues which readily avail themselves to the younger audience. The messages hidden within every Beatles song can sometimes be lost among the redundancy of such golden classicism. Across the Universe takes these messages, changes their tone and beat, throws in a storyline and the end result is a magically trippy neo-Hippie escape that is sure to entertain and keep you singing “I Am the Walrus” in your sleep.