strangely insightful, feverish trip into the consciousness of Bob Dylan- public as well as mythic and personal- and great tunes!

Rating: 10/10 (24 November 2007)

It's not quite as the ads have said - there aren't six people specifically playing Bob Dylan. It's fragments, pieces, all making up a tableau regarding the myth, history, pop-mania, arrogance, self-deprecation, strange humor, and undeniably powerful musical ability of Bob Dylan. It's Todd Haynes working wonderfully without a net on what isn't a film that will be for everyone, much like Dylan himself. It shuffles around the six perspectives- albeit never in a manner that is confusing or too startling in terms of the storytelling relating to each other- and it does depend a lot on how much one knows about their Dylan history (Woody Guthrie, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, horrible husband, erratic rock star, folk legend-cum-born again, and the enigma always hiding that wound up more contradictions than a pretzel smothered in ice cream). Godard would approve.
For those that admire Dylan, or at least can understand how hype and fame can merge with the possibility of Dylan as an outsider in the 1960s of all times, and knows at least a little bit (the "hey, it's Alan Ginsberg!" gag, as he rides up alongside Dylan's limo, played by David Cross, is one of the funniest things I've seen in years), and can respect how the filmmaker pays respect while ultimately adulating the whole ideal of a iconoclastic figure, the film serves up many moments of "pure" enjoyment. Others, who know him as writing Blowin' in the Wind and All Along the Watchtower, and know him as the guy on that album cover with the girl on the New York street, might be a little more perplexed - actually more-so than a little. Haynes's film can be argued on the flip side of the coin as pretentious doodling and meandering with Felliniesque aspirations and grandeur Americana. On the other hand, at least for the former, the same can go for Mr. Dylan. Does he care what he says? Who's to say?
If for nothing else, aside from the brilliant editing and mind-blowing camera-work, edging on the sublime, see it for the songs, of course (including a mixture of classic Dylan material, some of which is not new to my ears, some is, and very well done covers), and for the performances. Cate Blanchett is a marvel, totally deserved of another Oscar nomination, as she digs deep into the most well-known period of Dylan's height of glory (and the tipping-point, as we see, prior to his real-life motorcycle accident), with the bushy hair and the kooky manner of speaking and almost shy demeanor, Blanchett makes it all her own. But lest not forget Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, who may actually fare a lot better here than in the upcoming Dark Knight (who's to say, of course), as Bale especially takes on the persona of the young and reinvigorated Dylan, looking exactly like the 'Times They Are-a-Changing' form, and Ledger as the devilish, mean womanizer side. And the little black kid and Richard Gere are OK too- actually, the black Kid, Carl Franklin, is more than OK.
The point is, I'm Not There is exhilarating for the open-minded, revelatory in spurts, and with that kind of rush that a story, fable, history, and musical mixed together can bring only so often in cinema. And like Dylan, it's post-modern to the point of at one moment scratching your head and another moment wanting to clap your hands like hell. It makes Across the Universe, frankly, look like Child's Play in comparison. The Beatles, I might add, appear in the most blatant (and uproarious) cameo of the year.