Great film...weird, but great

Rating: 9/10 (2 August 2008)

You can't go into this film expecting to see something that even remotely resembles a commercial biopic. It's not. There are six stories going on here that have hardly anything to do with one another, if they intersect at all. But all stories do have a plot and they all arrive at some sort of conclusion. So, if you go into the film with the right attitude, you won't be dissatisfied at the end.
To help the audience sort through all these divergent stories, Haynes provides visual clues. Whishaw and Blanchett's stories are told in black and white, but Whishaw's story is told almost entirely in a one-shot of the actor, while Blanchett's is something of a roller coaster of a psychedelic ride. There is one particularly funny scene with Blanchett's Jude Quinn and the Beatles that just made me laugh out loud.
Christian Bale's Jack Rollins' story is told entirely as a 60 Minutes-esquire news story following the character through 'stock' footage from the sixties and 'interviews' from the eighties. I'll take this moment to say that Bale and Blanchett do an amazing job of lip-syncing. As a Christian (the faith, not the person), I appreciated the fact that they didn't cheapen or make fun of Dylan's conversion. I do, however, have to say that the eighties-style perm they put on Christian Bale's head was pretty hysterical.
The only time any of the stories intersect is when Heath Ledger's character, actor Robbie Clark, plays Christian Bale's Jack Rollins in a movie. The Ledger story is the most traditional film through line, and one of the more relatable stories. It's about a man whose rise to fame has destroyed his marriage.
The other two stories, revolving around versions of Dylan portrayed by Richard Gere and young Marcus Carl Franklin, are the most surreal and odd. They are also the ones based on the parts of Dylan's life that we know very little about. Go figure. Who knows, they might be the ones that come closest to the truth.
Bottom line, expect to spend a lot of time with one eyebrow up while watching this film. But you will also laugh and be genuinely moved and entertained. It's a great film...weird, but great.