Musicals aren't my bag, but I really thought I would love Across the Universe, a stylish and idealistic story of love, war, and the people who suffer and protest both that's set in the turbulent 1960s to a score of nothing but beautiful Beatles music. And, certainly, there are some wonderfully memorable moments, including Bono playing grand poobah to a band of travelling hippies and a moving concert atop an apartment building.

But the film, unfortunately, fails to tie these engaging scenes together into a coherent tale.

There's no story arc in the conventional sense. Instead, we've simply been given a string of curious and sometimes psychedelic scenes that lean heavily on creative covers of famous (and not so famous) Beatles tunes for support.

By the end of the film you'll likely feel as though you have little understanding of who the characters are, and even less empathy for the individual problems they suffer.

Supplemental material is, happily, primarily focused on the best part of the film: the music.

The extras provide unexpurgated versions of many of the movie's numbers, an audio commentary in which the film's music producer and composer, Elliot Goldenthal, provides insight on some of his arrangements, and several lengthy featurettes designed to better acquaint viewers with the cast, effects, and locations of the production.
 

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