It's been awhile since I have seen a really good film but today the drought was broken when I went on a hunch to see a film called Across the Universe. The movie didn't get an overwhelming endorsement from the critics over at Rottentomatoes but I really did find Roger Ebert's review intriguing, so I went on his recommendation...There is just so much to like about this film. It's interesting, very well done, emotionally gratifying but most of all, it's unique. The visuals, particularly in the second half of the film are stunning and the performances all the way around are very good. The movie is set in the nineteen sixties and everything is covered from the Detroit race riots, to the Vietnam War and the assassination of Martin Luther King. I really don't know how to describe the film because it is so unique and there is nothing I have seen to compare it to, really... It's a love story, musical, and backdoor social commentary all wrapped up into one. All the music is the Beatles but everyone but none of the songs is performed by the Beatles. There are cameo performances by Bono, Joe Cocker, and Izzy Izzard. I found the film very gratifying but I like eccentric artistic endeavors and this film has it in spades. If you open to musicals this is the best one I have seen and consider it better than Almost Famous which is another sixties movie I really enjoyed...and...if you have a soft spot for the Sixties or Beatles music this film is a must see...