Originality Doesn't Translate As "Great" Cinema

Rating: 6/10 (28 July 2008)

Convoluted and questioning, I'M NOT THERE is an insiders take on the life of poet/singer Bob Dylan. And what I mean by "insiders" is that if you're not in-the-know of what Bob Dylan was like and how his life meted itself out, you'll probably be scratching your head rather than applauding (with one notable exception which we'll cover in a moment).
Six separate actors (and an actress) portray Dylan as he remakes himself during times of tumult and exacerbation. The first is young black (yes, black) Woody (Marcus Carl Franklin), a train-jumping blues-boy who tries to focus on music of the past rather than the present. When he fails to make it, he must move on and reinvent himself. And the incarnations are many and bewildering (not unlike the man himself). From the pensive Jack (Christian Bale, 3:10 TO YUMA), to the brutally uncompromising Robbie (Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT), to the solemn Billy (Richard Gere, THE FLOCK), Dylan's music changed with his personae, and a barrage of his songs carry throughout the production.
The big failing of I'm Not There, though, is it's pacing, it's unfocused time-line, and the inability of many watchers to understand where, how, and when we are. Although this style was also a plus in that it created an original format (like Dylan himself), it leant itself to extreme confusion. I hope some people out there aren't watching and raving about it simply because they don't want to be seen as "musically uneducated" or "art handicapped." Sometimes the "I don't understand what this was so it must be good" attitude pops up at times like these. But sometimes confusion is simply that: confusion.
But there is a shining moment that stands out amidst these bizarre sequences, and that radiant star is Cate Blanchett (INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL) as the uneffeminate Jude (Dylan's drug infested wonderlust time). Blanchett's performance was striking in that one never questions her masculinity nor her Dylanesque personae. Her win at the Golden Globes (2008) for Best Supporting Actress was no surprise, nor was her nomination in the same category at the Oscars. Nor her many, many, many, many wins at film festivals across the globe.
I'm giving the film a positive rating based on Blanchett's astounding performance, which blew my mind. I know. I know. I've "got a lot of nerve."