You just want me to say what you want me to say

Rating: 8/10 (3 April 2010)

This is my first exposure to Todd Haynes, who I understand is almost always taking this artistic of an approach to his material. There are, in fact, several different film-making styles utilized here; one for each narrative. I honestly don't know an awful lot about Dylan, and I think that you have to, in order to fully appreciate this(in any event, you should realize that this is not, nor was it intended to be, a bio-pic). Yes, there are six actors portraying him, and yes, one is a woman and another is an African-American kid(his performance is excellent... in fact, all of them are, not just this half a dozen of them). From what I do know about the man, they adopt traits of his, and are rather well-cast. They represent his many "lives"; the FAQ explains them immensely well. This certainly is an interesting piece, and offers food for thought. It is philosophical at times. The dialog is well-written and delivered nicely. From a technical standpoint, this is marvelous; the editing and cinematography are skillful. Meanwhile, this will still alienate those expecting a mainstream treatment of the man's life, akin to Ray or Walk the Line. There is infrequent strong language, a little violence and disturbing content as well as brief nudity(male and female) and sexuality in this. The DVD comes with 24 minutes of extended scenes, a funny 4 minute gag reel, a 3 minute Heath tribute and a trailer for this and one for Forbidden Kingdom. I recommend this to fans of the singer, and those who enjoy the medium on other levels than that of presenting entertainment, or a straightforward story. 8/10