Cast:
Nancy Allen (Pam Mitchell), Bobby Di Cicco (Tony Smerko), Marc McClure (Larry Dubois), Susan Kendall Newman (Janis Goldman), Theresa Saldana (Grace Corrigan), Wendie Jo Sperber (Rosie Petrofsky), Eddie Deezen (Richard "Ringo" Klaus), Christian Juttner (Peter Plimpton), Will Jordan (Ed Sullivan), Read Morgan (Peter's Father), Claude Earl Jones (Al), and James Houghton (Eddie) Directed by Robert Zemeckis (#317 - The Polar Express, #352 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit, #581 - Forrest Gump, #648 - Beowulf, #701 - Back to the Future, #747 - Back to the Future Part II, #748 - Back to the Future Part III, #1527 - Cast Away)
Review:
Sure, there have been a few Beatles-related films here and there. But this is one that its creators often referred to as "a cross between American Graffiti and Ben-Hur" that somehow makes sense (for the latter film, one never sees a certain face...). Robert Zemeckis spent a decade studying and working prior to this film. Robert Zemeckis spent a decade studying and working prior to this film. This included meeting Bob Gale at USC Film School that shared his interest in making "Hollywood movies". Zemeckis directed a short film called "A Field of Honor" that saw him awarded a Student Academy Award in 1975 that attracted the attention of Steven Spielberg because, well, Zemeckis barged into Spielberg's office one day to show it to him. This got Spielberg to be a mentor to Zemeckis that would see him tabbed to direct his first feature film at Universal Pictures, which was this film. Apparently, the original idea was basically the question of if one could make a movie just about waiting in line that eventually spiraled from there. 1978 was an interesting idea for Beatles-adjacent films, with this (loosely sharing the title of The Beatles song "I Want"-oh you already know) being the middle of a group that included the TV mockumentary All You Need Is Cash and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (the jukebox musical with plenty of Beatles songs...as mostly covered by Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees). The resulting film (as written by Zemeckis and Gale as their first filmed screenplay) was not a hit despite warm reviews (preview and beyond) but Zemeckis and Gale kept busy, with the two's script for 1941 being filmed (by Spielberg) and released in 1979 before Zemeckis directed his next film with Used Cars (1980).
It is a pretty madcap film (98 minutes) about the nature of a moment crystalized in time, specifically February of 1964. It is a warmhearted film about people who just get swept up in the mayhem of Beatlemania for a film that lives it to the fullest in a way that manages to ride on charm without needing to show a Beatle up close (which goes with a main group where 28-year-old Allen was the most experienced on film). It is a neatly constructed ensemble film that doesn't have (or really need) an all-encompassing narrative to just roll with people that all manage to evoke a certain time and type (which even features Murray the K, who really referred to himself as a "fifth Beatle") that one can resonate with amid all of the nostalgia that doesn't cloy for a return of the old days but instead just rides the wave of hysteria. One does not wince at seeing the hysteria that arises from these folks, such as saying "Well, his wife could die" when presented with the fact that one of the Beatles being married or just the fact that people could go gaga for something that just happened be in the stomping ground of a Beatle. There is a key balance among the four leading stories that shows a guiding touch of humor within self-realization (small or not), starting with Allen, who has such worthwhile timing when it comes to finding that nerves really do wash away when faced with let's just say is euphoria with a guitar (as opposed to just being a reluctant pal-to-be-wife). Sperber is probably the one that draws the most amusement, because she is paired a good chunk of the time with Deezen and his particular type of energy (perhaps not surprisingly, he has called himself the "world's biggest" Beatles fan) as devotes fans that really makes one consider just how wrapped up a "fan" can be. The rest of the cast does pretty well in drawing amusement in the exhibition of teenage impulse (you know the usual, such as pushing folk music, wannabee saboteur, or wavering fixations), which probably works best with the sequence involving Newman, Di Cicco and Juttner that sees them abscond with tickets with some silly movements and lines that they sell just as well as any other time in the film. The Sullivan sequence involving shots that cut from seeing the group (amid a crowd of other fans) and then, well, parts of that Beatles performance (with stand-ins obviously that were coordinated by a Beatles superfan when it came to movements) is the cherry on top of a worthwhile journey with a pride for the time it aims to capture without stuttering at any real moment. Sure, it is a familiar film in its comedy, but it is a comforting type of film that shows talent among its young cast and crew in terms of execution and overall charm.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
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