“A Hard Day’s Night” was critically acclaimed by most every media outlet, including most movie critics alike. That being said, it is hard to find very critical reviews about this witty 1964 classic musical movie. For example, the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and Baltimore Sun all rated the movie a perfect 100 out of 100 in their reviews. All three critics raved about the movie’s fun, spontaneous off-beat humor. In fact, Baltimore Sun writer Chris Kaltenbach went as far as to say, “A non-stop cinematic funhouse impossible to resist” (Baltimore Sun, 1964). It’s rare to see so many movie critics agree on a film’s quality and historical significance, but “A Hard Day’s Night” fits this bill.

However, Variety Magazine (staff-credited writing) did bring up some critical comments. One such comment was that the film’s story line was thin. This is a solid view, as the staff also commented that the film writers and directors kept the Beatles’ within their acting abilities. The magazine commented, “Running at 83 minutes, in black and white, it keeps Beatles within their ability. Alun Owen’s screenplay merely attempts to portray an exaggerated 36 hours in the lives of the Beatles. But, though exaggerated, the thin story lines gives a shrewd idea of the pressure and difficulties under which they work and live.” (Variety, December 1963).

Still, as mentioned earlier, most critics loved this movie and found it hard to resist and hard to criticize. In fact, famed movie critic Roger Ebert wrote, “Many critics attended the movie and prepared to condescend, but the movie could not be dismissed: It was so joyous and original that even the early reviews acknowledged it as something special.” (Ebert, 1996). Ebert goes on to say this movie “stands outside its time, its genre and even rock. It is one of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies.”

While a fun movie to watch, I don’t share Ebert’s overwhelming affirmation of this film and definitely would not rate it as a cinematic “landmark” as he did. Personally, I would have to agree with Variety’s take on the film’s weak story line. The screenwriters attempted to capture a day in the life of the rock phenom’s career, which would be impossible for a movie that barely hit 90 minutes! While very entertaining, the movie seemed to bounce back and forth and really didn’t capture the viewer until well after the halfway point. At times, it was hard to follow and the point of the movie was lost…besides the always-amazing Beatles’ music.

After the halfway point, the grandfather began talking Ringo into “parading around” while he still could and not let the rest of the band have all the fun. This led to Ringo’s running off, the band and producer stressing out to find him and the grandfather taking every chance he could to make a fast buck or generally create drama for all involved. This is where the movie really grabbed me and held on tight. Besides that, the dry humor was refreshing and always fun…especially with such a great cast of characters as The Beatles.

This movie was definitely mainstream media, as it was created and written around the 1960s’ biggest musical and cultural icon, The Beatles. The movie was made to make money and highlight the music of the group, which was a slam-dunk for the producers. Overall, this movie has a great deal of cultural significance, as it highlights the time period in England very well, from fashion, gender roles, police actions, gambling establishments and of course…music.