Honestly, I am not a big movie watcher. I don't have much free time, but if I do have the time to engage in a quiet leisure activity, I tend to choose books over movies. I like the control I have as a reader to visualize things the way I choose to. However, I really, really love the Movie Across The Universe. The story revolves around all the Beatles songs, which made me like the movie even more. Across The Universe is classified as a musical romantic drama film. The story starts with Jude, a shipyard worker from Liverpool. He jumps ship to New Jersey, in search of his father, who his mother met while he was stationed in Liverpool during the war. Lucy, another main character, worries about her boyfriend heading for service in The Vietnam War. Jude finally meets his father who is the janitor at Princeton University. He befriends Lucy's brother, Max, who is quite the rebel and is always participating in crazy antics with his college friends. Max brings Jude home for Thanksgiving. Jude develops an attraction to Lucy. After a fight with his parents at Thanksgiving dinner about his lack of dedication to his college courses, Max drops out of school. Max and Jude move to an apartment in Greenwich Village. They are roommates with an aspiring singer named Sadie, and are soon joined by "Jojo", a man who left his home in Detroit after his younger brother is killed in the 1967 Detriot riot. Lucy's boyfriend, Daniel, is killed in Vietnam. She is stricken with grief and decides to visit Max in New York before college. Max has become a taxi driver and a freelance artist. She and Jude eventually fall in love. Because Max dropped out of college, he is soon drafted into the army. They attend a peace rally where Lucy decides to become involved with the Students for a Democratic Republic, an anti-war group. Max is deployed, which causes Lucy to become even more involved in the anti-war movement. Jude doesn't like the amount of time Lucy spends at SDR and it creates some relationship troubles for them. Jude follows Lucy to an anti-war demonstration at Columbia University. The protest becomes a riot and the police arrest the protestors, including Lucy. Jude tries to help Lucy, but is beaten by the police and arrested. Because he is in the United States illegally, Jude is deported back to England. Jojo's music career takes off (Jojo is supposed to be Jimi Hendrix), and Sadie becomes an alcoholic because of her loneliness. Max gets wounded in Vietnam and gets sent home. Lucy leaves the SDR after she finds the other members making bombs. One of the bombs explodes, killing the members of the SDR. Jude reads this in the news and thinks Lucy is dead, but Max informs her that she is alive. Jude comes to New York legally. Jojo and Sadie reconcile and put on a rooftop concert. All the characters are reunited and it is then your typical happy ending. I think I love this movie because it includes so many things that I enjoy in a story. It has a historical component, which I really enjoy. I love that it has the Beatles music in it, and I especially love the counter culture involved in the movie. I found myself relating a lot to Lucy. We both grew up in very conservative households and lived in conservative communities, but became exposed to all different kinds of people and different activities. I think this is an amazing movie, and I never get sick of watching it.
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