Very unique story structure makes for great scenes but a bizarre whole

Rating: 5/10 (18 November 2008)

"I'm Not There" is in every way an art film. The concept alone of having several actors play characters resembling Bob Dylan at different stages/re-inventions of his career warrants the label "art film." Of course that wasn't enough--theses different stages don't occur in basic chronological order, they are broken into pieces and mixed around with each other, jumping back and forth. Oh, and they're all told differently--one in documentary style, one in more traditional style, one in black and white...it's continuity's worst nightmare.
Films that are so structurally rebellious can often be surprisingly good, but if you're largely unfamiliar with Dylan's life it's hard to ever be completely on board with the film. I'm not a Dylan fan, not that I wouldn't want to be, but not yet at least, and I know that I was pretty lost. This movie is anything but what the modern term "biopic" encapsulates. It dared to be different, radically so and maybe creator Todd Haynes was right--the last thing Hollywood needs is another traditional musician biopic.
The times that I enjoyed this film were during individual scenes. The variety of talented actors (Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett) made them all particularly interesting, it was just when I tried to draw some connection between them that my brain got absolutely fried. I also found the film very visually interesting in all its different modes, so credit Haynes in that sense.
Overall, "I'm Not There" has to rank in the top most uniquely told biographies. In fact for now, it's probably right up at number one. You simply can't see this film expecting to not do your end of the work. You can't just hit play with this one--bring your A game and brush up on your Dylan beforehand.