I'm Not There

I definitely think your enjoyment of this movie will be in direct relation to how knowledgeable you are about Bob Dylan, his music, his life, and his myth. Jim and Mitch didn't like it as much as I did but I also know more about Dylan than they do. Then again, I don't know all that much so I didn't love this either.

I love the idea of seven different people playing Dylan at different eras of his life. I love the idea of taking a mishmash of song lyrics, film styles, old interviews, and facts and blending them into one big Zimmerman stew. But as a movie, I just couldn't fully get into it. The Cate Blanchett stuff was good but I'd rather just watch Don't Look Back. I liked casting a 12-year-old African-American boy as the young Woody Guthrie era Dylan and I also liked the wandering troubadour Richard Gere aspect. In fact, I liked all of the actors - that is, all except David Cross as Allen Ginsberg. Insufferable.

But there were too many elements that reminded me of outtakes from O Brother Where Art Thou, Stardust Memories, and McCabe and Mrs. Miller for my tastes. I know that Haynes was simply trying to piece together a pastiche of film styles to match the Dylan era he was portraying but it just didn't overall work for me. Then again, if I was a Dylan obsessive, I'm sure that I would have loved this movie.

Which brings me to the question - when is Haynes going to make Finally Found a Home, his love letter to Huey Lewis? That I know I'd love!

Directed by Todd Haynes
2007
Film Forum