I'm Not There

Reflecting on CastleBee's comments, as a long time fan and border line obsessive I agree the film was mainly aimed at those who new the story and new it well. I really wanted to like the film. I thought the concept of telling his story from differing perspectives and in a non-linear way would be a real trip and the best way to cover the subject. There were some inspired pieces in it. The excellent Cate Blanchett as the mid-sixties era Dylan battling with the British press in the person of the always reliable Bruce Greenwood was a highlight. So was the young Marcus Carl Franklin as the embodiment of the myths and lies that Dylan made up about his early life when he was a struggling folkie in Greenwich Village circa 1961. It was kind of an inside joke making the young Bob a brash negro hobo riding the rails. But overall it meandered with not great moment of dénouement, or at least sense of what it was all about. It was kind of aimless (actually like some of Dylan's work) without ... Read more

I’ve always liked biographies – books, films, even verbally told stories of family members. There’s nothing quite so interesting to me than watching a life unfold and trying to understand the various aspects of what it all meant. And I’m pretty convinced that I’m open minded enough to enjoy a wide range of biographical films - even if the person featured (or the type of work he or she did) isn’t on my top 10 list of interesting subject matter. For instance – I really enjoyed the depiction of Loretta Lynn’s life in “Coal Miner’s Daughter” in spite of my decided lack of affection for country music. Likewise, Bob Dylan, though a very visible part of the fabric of the 60’s, was still never of any real interest to me. Didn’t really get into him - probably in large part due to the fact that I could never really understand what the little mush mouth was saying. So, it took very little to convince me there were lots of other things to do during that era than solve that droll mystery. Sti... Read more

Interesting, self-consciously arty film, that mostly works but falls on its face in a few places.Essentially its a reflection on the life of Bob Dylan, told using six different actors, portraying six different elements of his life. For each segment the film stock and technique is different, and the segments are intercut in what appears to be intended as a visual similarity to Dylan's poetic imagery. I'm not sure its a great film, in fact I'm sure its not. But its a good, if flawed film, and worth watching.