Movie Review for I'm Not There (2007)

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I'm Not There

Review #579 of 365
Movie Review of I'm Not There (2007) [R] 135 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.50
Where Viewed: Landmark Chez Artiste, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 5 December 2007
Time: 5:15 pm
DVD Release Date: 6 May 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer

Soundtrack: Download now from Bob Dylan - I'm Not There (Original Soundtrack) [Bonus Track Version] - or - order the CD below

Directed by: Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven)
Screenplay by: Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven) • Oren Moverman (Face) with story by Todd Haynes

Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) • Ben Whishaw (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) • Christian Bale (Rescue Dawn) • Richard Gere (The Hunting Party) • Marcus Carl Franklin (The Water Is Wide) • Heath Ledger (Candy) • Kris Kristofferson (Fast Food Nation) • Julianne Moore (Next) • Fanny La Croix ("October 1970") • Charlotte Gainsbourg (The Science of Sleep) • Bruce Greenwood (Firehouse Dog) • Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain)

Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Click to see photos from the Premiere of I'm Not There
When honing in on the inner strength necessary to commit to the decision to see a semi bio pic of an American music icon of such stature as Bob Dylan, one might sit a priori and contemplate the outflow of hard-earned capital approximating $20 US after transportation, concessions, and ticket are all factored in versus 135 minutes of what may or may not amount to an entertaining and insightfully relevant cinematic experience especially if one is not exactly a fan of Dylan in the first place. Compound that with the, at first glance, high concept, albeit seemingly brilliant dimension that the writer/ director has conceived the film as something other than a straight-forward romp through the trials and tribulations of the star's life in the vein of James Mangold's Johnny Cash introspective Walk the Line; rather, in Todd Haynes's case, his film would be inspired by the life and music of Dylan as portrayed by six different actors exemplifying in some imagined way the various stages of Dylan's evolution as an artist, musician, folk hero between the years of roughly 1959 to 1978 and named after one of Dylan's most obscure but fan-coveted tracks, I'm Not There.

The question that underlies every scene of Todd Haynes's Bog, did I say that?, as in bogged down, I meant Bob Dylan film, I'm Not There, is this, folks, "Is Bob Dylan There?" Curiously, sometimes he is and sometimes it's far harder to see. It's easy when, in two cases, the actors portraying the slices of Dylan are actually made up to look strikingly like the enigmatic figure with his signature fiery black hair and sneering scowl. In the other four cases, one's imagination has to be employed at levels far beyond that of the average filmgoer. Example: Richard Gere playing the escaped and living-in-hiding, elder Billy the Kid residing in the small town of Riddle, MO where his female dog, Henry, is his only companion and the townspeople, all seemingly straight out of HBO's "Carnivàle", stir his ire with mention of a six-lane highway soon to be built through the middle of town inspiring mass suicide and much outrage. Maybe less so as the child guitar and blues prodigy Woody Guthrie, portrayed by the child prodigy Marcus Carl Franklin--a little kid with one of the best stage smiles and pronounced diction styles around these days—who lives the life of a transient box car traveler meeting all sorts of people on his quest to actually meet the real Woody Guthrie whose name he borrowed out of his idolization of the "Dust Bowl Troubadour".

"… one's imagination has to be employed at levels far beyond that of the average filmgoer."
In the middle of the range Todd Haynes gives up two unique conceptualizations: folk singer legend Jack Rollins (Christian Bale), the career path of whom roughly follows most biographically that of Bob Dylan even including his eventual re-birth as a born-again Christian and the actor, Robbie Clark (Heath Ledger) who plays Jack Rollins in a film catapulting his career and fame leading to the demise of his marriage to French painter, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Jack's life is told like a documentary with outtakes from his life and interviews with people including folk singer sensation, Alice Fabian (Julianne Moore), now a seasoned woman with a house full of cats. Robbie's life consists of scenes of him mostly brooding about his success and fame marrying the life of a superstar with that of a father and husband with marginal, mostly misogynistic anti-success. And, finally, the most Dylan-esque portrayals, shot in simple black and white and portrayed by shrewdly gifted international actors: Brit Ben Wishaw as Dylan the poet Arthur Rimbaud seen only as if on trial against a white backdrop defending his way of thinking and living; and Aussie Cate Blanchett—by far the most inspired performance of the film and, perhaps even her entire career—as the most daring folk singer songwriter of 1963-65 Jude Quinn whose fans turn on him when he seemingly stops caring the way they think he should and once did about people, ideals, values, and protest.

With that, straight out of the box and onto the screen, I'm Not There's an artistically well-endowed film with vivid, charismatic, visceral performances from all but Gere who's not to blame for this character and role have seemingly the least to do with anything, that ends up seeming a bit full of itself and aware of its brilliance to its own detriment. Who's supposed to like this film, Dylan fans of the 1960s? Are there enough of them to greenlight this film? So, what you populate it with current talent like Bale and Ledger, and figure their fans will triple the size of the audience from what 20 to 60? Actually, there were only 25 people present, and not a person there was under the age of 60. That's not to say that Dylan's lyrics and message isn't as or even more relevant today than it was in his day.

"… much more would have had to be done than have Arthur Rimbaud spouting Zen half truths between scenes of seemingly unrelated characters…"
It is to say, though that most people alive today have no idea, other than from cats over 50 who quote Dylan like he was a spiritual guide from the creator herself, who Dylan was / is—he's still alive and kicking—though the film might have been more meaningful were he not. This film gives practically nothing useful by the way of explaining why he mattered to people at the time. Did they love him because he could sneer? In other words, for people who did not grow up under his apparent spell to care one bit about him or his contribution / legacy to the history of American music, much more would have had to be done than have Arthur Rimbaud spouting Zen half truths between scenes of seemingly unrelated characters one would need a complete Dylan biography to make sense of.

Wow, Man, it's easy for you to be harsh about a film and a guy who inspired an entire generation with such incredible songs as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" which, if you knew anything, you'd know were like anthems for the Civil Rights Movement. Look, man you can plunder in prosaic prose or you can pop in a cassette and actually get some education on the matter. Man, Cate Blanchett had Dylan down. Give her the Oscar® right now don't even wait, there's been no better performance by a woman this year, heck, give her both acting Oscars® since there's been no better performance by a guy either.

"… one of the most intriguing and inspired treatments of the life, times, and contributions of an American folk hero ever captured on celluloid. "
Look, all I'm saying, Man, is that you've got to get in Dylan's skin to catch the full implications of I'm Not There. You've got to transcend the ordinary fluff of film and recognize what Todd Haynes has done here is truly one of the most intriguing and inspired treatments of the life, times, and contributions of an American folk hero ever captured on celluloid.

Um, there wasn't much action to hold my interest, and I found a lot of the references to Bob Dylan, whom I know of only because my mom used to sing me "Blowin' in the Wind" every night before I'd fall asleep when I was a little kid, pretty obscure and hard to follow. The title seemed like a fallacy of nomenclature—an expression I coined in my 5th grade science class meaning something that is falsely named—because as much as Dylan wasn't there, he was.

"… a fallacy of nomenclature…"
Oh, yeah, and I really thought the girls in the film were unnecessary, especially the cameo of the girl from "Dawson's Creek" except that Cate Blanchett did a nice job of playing a very believable Bob Dylan including her vocals, facial expressions, and gestures. I'm not sure my mom, though, would approve of a woman playing a boy like this. I would ask her to consider that turnabout is fair play since all of the female roles were played by men back in Shakespeare's day, or so I learned in 6th grade English with Mr. Riley.

In summary, there are possibly three better movies inhabiting I'm Not There: Jack Rollins's or Robbie Clark's life story, or an entire authentic Bob Dylan biopic starring Cate Blanchett. Dylan disciples may love this film. Film students may admire Todd Haynes for his creative genius to attempt to make something like this. Surely, there are some brilliant elements to the film, and some truly sensational performances from some of the best actors of our time. Still, no matter how artistically relevant the choices, there's a fairly equal portion of the film that's difficult to endure without a more dramatic payout in the form of greater insight into why Dylan was so important or impacting as an icon such that his music endures to this day as does he as a relevant contributor to the world's music scene—those answers are still blowin' in the wind.

W.I.P. Scale™ Ratings:
Mikey Mason: $9 • Jones Anderson: $12.50 • Pete Jones: $14.75 • Adam Peterson: $10.75 • Mateo Mathison: $7.75 • Segue Townsend: $13.75 (but $4.75 is all Cate Blanchett)
Average: $11.50

___________
Review Contributors:

Mikey Mason – age 12 – likes movies only if they have sustained action and no kissing. Girls, also, need not be present to score a high mark.
Favorite Film: Star Wars • Least Favorite Film: Pete's Dragon

Jones Anderson – age 16 – newly forged, high school film critic versed in years of news and feature-writing now taking a stab at writing film reviews and challenging the beliefs of what a film review can be by actually liking and giving positive commentary on films normal, average, everyday teens should or would like rather than trying to be some erudite, art house film snob like his predecessor and now current rock music critic, Pete Jones.
Favorite Film: ET: The Extra Terrestrial • Least Favorite Film: Halloween II-The Season of the Witch

Pete Jones – age 18 – former film critic, current music critic, jealous of junior film critic decides to write his own point-counterpoint film reviews because Editor tells him he has to share monthly space on feature page with rival and younger Jones Anderson who coincidentally has the same first name as Pete's last name.
Favorite Film: The Big Chill • Least Favorite Film: Flash Dance

Adam Peterson – age 28 – re-enters the film review stage for his in casual form, sort of at the water cooler style, casually discussing films with his peers and calling them on their notions that art for the sake of art in a film doesn't automatically make the film superior to a commercially successful blockbuster.
Favorite Film: Schindler's List • Least Favorite Film: The Age of Innocence

Mateo Mathison – age 35 – takes up the word processor and writes quick, pithy, tongue-in-cheek short flippant reviews of films that are funny and helpful to parents of kids ages 1 day to 4 years that find themselves unable to see films other than 6 months late on DVD but then, subsequently, out of the loop on Leno and Letterman monologues when it comes to film references.
Favorite Film: The Sixth Sense • Least Favorite Film: The Blair Witch Project

Segue Townsend – age 40 – retired high school teacher returns to original stomping grounds of film reviewing with monumental project to see and review 365 films in theatres not on DVD in 365 days. Quickly gets feet wet again and back on track and races to become one of the most prolific and read film critics of the decade publishing over 600 film reviews in two years.
Favorite Film: Little Children • Least Favorite Film: Hostel

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Other Projects Featuring I'm Not There (2007)
Cast Members
Cate Blanchett • Ben Whishaw • Christian Bale
Richard Gere • Marcus Carl Franklin • Heath Ledger
Kris Kristofferson • Julianne Moore • Fanny La Croix
Charlotte Gainsbourg • Michelle Williams
Director
Todd Haynes
Writers
Todd Haynes • Oren Moverman
CD Soundtrack
DVD
VHS
Review-lite I'm Not There (2007) [max of 150 words]
There are possibly three better movies inhabiting Todd Haynes's I'm Not There: Jack Rollins's or Robbie Clark's life story, or an entire authentic Bob Dylan biopic starring Cate Blanchett. Dylan disciples may love this film. Film students may admire Todd Haynes for his creative genius to attempt to make something like this. Surely, there are some brilliant elements to the film, and some truly sensational performances from some of the best actors of our time. Still, no matter how artistically relevant the choices, there's a fairly equal portion of the film that's difficult to endure without a more dramatic payout in the form of greater insight into why Dylan was so important or impacting as an icon such that his music endures to this day as does he as a relevant contributor to the world's music scene—those answers are still blowin' in the wind.
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