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Julie Taymor is one of my artistic heroes, and the Beatles are the Beatles, so I had high hopes going into this film. Of course, sometimes the best-seeming combinations can go horribly awry, so I also had a fair amount of trepidation.

Let me start by saying that the film was gorgeous both visually and aurally. It had moments in it that were as exhilarating as anything that I’ve ever seen on film. So the quibbles I have with it are minor. However it’s clearly not a film for everyone. You have to like musicals, be able to suspend disbelief, and yes, have a high tolerance for cheese. But the movie is a great ride for those with the ability to appreciate it.

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While the film started in a way that was worrisomely close to the beginning of “Moulin Rouge”, this film improved on its predecessor in many ways, not the least of which was the absence of (Moulin Rouge director) Baz Luhrmann’s hyperkinetic cuts. In addition, while both films are essentially long strings of music videos, Luhrmann’s film could have been reduced to two scenes without much loss (the deeply powerful “Tango De Roxanne”, and the hysterical “Like a Virgin”), while Taymor’s film had a much deeper pool of worthwhile numbers to pull from. Nevertheless, certain scenes managed to stand out: the slow-motion chaos of “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, the Ivy-League fraternity antics of “With a Little Help From My Friends”, the heartbreaking beauty of “Let it Be”, the visual intensity of “Strawberry Fields Forever”, and most notably, the revelatory “I Want You/She’s So Heavy”.

I also loved, loved, loved, Joe Cocker’s triple performance during “Come Together” as a bum, a hippie and a pimp (welcoming Martin Luther McCoy’s Hendrix-like “Jo-Jo” to town), and while I was a little disappointed musically with Bono’s “I am the Walrus”, I thought his Jim Jones/Timothy Leary parody was terrific. Furthermore, the psychedelic visuals of his magic bus were so vivid I felt like I was having a hallucinogenic experience simply watching it in the theater.

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