....Wake Me up When It Is Over

Rating: 6/10 (14 February 2009)

The Life of bob Dylan, told through the performances of various different actors.
A film is suppose to, among other things, entertain it's viewer on some level. It can be expertly made, well acted and thought-provoking, but if you cannot entertain your audience, what's the point of watching? If I'm not entertained, I lose interest and when I lose interest I get bored. You can have the most unique and complex ideas but if I can't get engaged by anything then again....what's the point. Enter I'm Not There. Well acted by everyone involved, a unique vision and script that is fresh, yet I was bored to tears. Flashes of 2001 come to me.
Thinking of this film, many words come to my mind, pretentious is one of them. Thinking that it is more important then it actually is. I will give it credit for being unique and fresh, but that's it. Todd Haynes clearly had more on his plate then he could handle. Eliminate two of the "Dylan" characters, it cuts the running time down, makes things more centred and complete. There, that is one simple solution that would have made the film better. It might have even been able to keep my attention. Who? Well, Richard Gere is the most obvious choice, his segment was the worst of the entire film.
The cast all work well, and Haynes is decent at telling a story, but his ambition got the better of him here. Way too much for him to handle and for the audience. I get the fact that he wanted to tell the audience that bob Dyland can't be understood, but I'm sitting here thinking what was the point of me watching this film. What did I get from it? Nothing.
I know there are fans of this film, my question is are they fans of Dylan? I'm a fan of Dylan and I did not like this movie, not for what is was trying to do, but for what it did, bored me to death.