Great filmtrack...

Rating: 9/10 (10 October 2008)

...To the soundtrack: a musical film, a filmic music, anything but a music video.
Now, I knew next to nothing about Bob Dylan. I'd seen Todd Haines' films. Which is why I took a look. And this is more than a look: it's a vision. It immerses you into troubled waters. You cannot seem to find your way in or out but you're nonetheless "there." It's weird, so much so I couldn't handle all the stories un-neatly packaged into one big yarn. I was aghast most of the time but the playfulness is contagious. With all the contiguous angles splitting up into one another: you can't help but pick up the roles and go with it. "I'm Not There" is quite something, especially if you like film or music or any kind of art that takes you outside your boxes or cubicles. Because, after all: if Bob Dylan could be someone else and yet another person, perhaps you could too. Or perhaps that remains the domain of the artist.
Anyway, I pretty much think Ben Wishaw might just become one of the greatest in his field. Ledger is, sadly, his usual, towering, no-hold-barred self, nicely accompanied by Gainsbourg, who's definitely becoming a great actress after this, "Science of Sleep" and "21 grams." But yes, even though I like her but find her overrated as such, Cate Blanchett truly steals the whole show. To say "mesmerising" would be an understatement and I'm generally critical of these acting-of-living-dangerously stunts. Cate Blanchett IS Bob Dylan, and that alone is a reason to check this out. Once you've seen it, you can't get away from it, whether your like or hate it. But like most memorable movies, it's a lovely prison. As prisons go, it's even pretty loose.