Just Like a Woman

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2007)

Greetings again from the darkness. Director Todd Haynes won me over with his indie hit "Far From Heaven". Here he blows me away with his avant-garde Dylan inspired web of song and real-life influenced vignettes held together by six different aspects of the legend, who, as per the title, is not actually present.
The six spirits of Dylan are played by Ben Whishaw (Arthur Rimbaud influence), Christian Bale (as he converts to Christianity), Marcus Carl Franklin (as a young bluesman using the name of the legendary Woody Guthrie) Richard Gere (as western recluse modeled on the legend of Billy the Kid), Heath Ledger (as an actor from the mod 60's era), and the most stunning performance of all, Cate Blanchett, in an all-out spot-on impersonation of Mr. Dylan.
The stories are not told chronologically, instead Mr. Haynes opts to mix 'em up and toss them at us as if they were pieces of a puzzle to assemble, or better yet, the lyrics to a Dylan song! Additionally, we get clips of real life, in fact much of the Christian Bale segment is done documentary style. We gets bits of MLK, JFK, LBJ and the Black Panthers with Hewey Newton and Bobby Seale. That's in addition to the Beatles, Allen Ginsburg and Coco, a nod to Edie Sedgewick (played well by Michelle Williams).
In the Heath Ledger story, we are presented with his wife Claire, who apparently is a mixture of Dylan women and lyrics, complete with painful relationship goodies. Claire is played perfectly by Charlotte Gainsbourg as she shows us how even those closest to him, never really know him. Bruce Greenwood has a couple of roles as a very persistent British interviewer and as old man Garrett (as in Pat) in the Gere story. One of the coolest parts is seeing the great Richie Havens pick his guitar on the porch in the Woody Guthrie story.
This is just an amazing blend of eras and personalities and super-creativity from all involved. I was mesmerized and engaged as I tried to pick out real quotes, real clothes, real moments and those that were based on lyrics and myths (Pete Seeger axing the cable in Newport).
I worry that this won't find the audience it deserves. One need not be a Dylan freak to "get" this film. You just have to love multi-layered story telling and some of the most influential music of the modern era. This is wonderful movie making and pure joy to behold.