I'm Not There (2007)

I'm Not ThereIt is difficult to pull off a tale with multiple characters with various; someway interconnected, tale that is set in a poignant tone and still hold the audience for more than 2 hours even though it fails to connect with them easily. Todd Haynes; the writer-director, and Oren Moverman; the screenwriter's, script comes with a lot of instructions and requirement that is almost fulfilled while depicting it on screen but some of it feels missing too, in the end. On performance level, the feature scores majestically with the help of Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger and Richard Gere. I'm Not There is a musical but not your typical one, it may comes off as cathartic in the end after surviving this empirical world of Todd Haynes in an overlong script that raises question whether it is worth it or not.

While not the biggest fan of Bob Dylan, a lot of his songs are great (especially in the lyric writing) and he has an immediately distinctive voice, he is a musician who is appreciated highly by me and it is easy to recognise his importance.'I'm Not There', regardless of having a talented big name cast, generally didn't do much for me. It is interesting sure, with a unique and quite bold concept, but it doesn't come off completely successfully. There are things to appreciate but it is understandable why some may dislike it, it's pretty divisive as a film.Starting with 'I'm Not There's' good points, it is beautifully and atmospherically made and adeptly directed by Todd Haynes. Dylan's music is just great and beautifully incorporated and interpreted.A big strength is the cast, a vast majority of them giving strong performances. Cate Blanchett, barely recognisable, is particularly excellent, with Christian Bale, Marcus Carl Franklin and Heath Ledger more than up to her level. There are some entertaining secondary performances from Charlotte Gainsbourg, David Cross and Julianne Moore. Dylan is remarkably multi-faceted, where we see him as a rebellious poet, a protest singer, a drug-addled rock star, a matinée idol with marriage woes, and a born-again Christian.Not everything works. The concept does intrigue, but the time shifts do feel muddled and confusing. 'I'm Not There' is overlong with it going longer than necessary and the pacing rambles making the film drag.While most of the cast are great, Richard Gere and his story are tacked on and uninteresting and Ben Whishaw is a little dull. The script could have been tighter and more cohesive.Overall, not awful but underwhelming and easy to see why it's a divisive film. Bob Dylan deserved better than this. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Where to start here? I'm Not There is a very daunting, serious, far- fetching, high;y intellectual, brainy and at the same time, painful, awkward, clumsy, weird and sometimes sick movie with elements of great and gross, high and haughty, likable and lecherous, sweet and sick, fine and foolish. It reminded me heavily of Oliver Stone's Nixon, with its spiraling, non-linear, crazy pace, feedback, change of colors, abrupt jumps, foreshadowing, unexpected twists and all the same. Is this movie any good? Yes, it is. The performances of multitude of actors are all spellbinding and breathtaking - Marcus Carl Franklin, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw,Charlotte Gainsbourg , David Cross, Eugene Brotto, Bruce Greenwood, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Mark Camacho, Benz Antoine , Craig Thomas, Richie Havens, Kim Roberts, Kris Kristofferson, Don Francks, Vito DeFilippo and Susan Glover, Paul Spence - an amazing array of huge talents and powerful bandwagon of artistry. Music is excellent throughout, too - the original Dylan's songs as well as new tracks are just superb. What is also good here - excellent play of allusions to Dylan's life - Newport fest, Judas shout, family problems, The Beatles, drugs, poetry, Tarantula, many other things are thrilling and a real eye- feast for Dylan fans. What is bad? Uneven pace, some mannerisms, some really vapid moments, some unnecessary longer monologues, some utterly silly moments at all - they spoil the party much. But still, even 2 hours are not long here and the movie flows almost (almost) seamlessly. Pity, it was not cut to a closer perfection. But, it is very hard to make a decent biopic. I do recommend this to Dylan buffs, to folk rock fans... the rest? Maybe, not. Todd Haynes has made a great work, but not all are ready to see Dylan played by a woman.

Bob Dylan is one of the most legendary and innovative singers in Folk history and I can't think of any other way that a filmmaker could've done his life justice than this movie.The movie doesn't follow the conventional biopic formula as it depicts his life through six different characters who represent different areas of Dylan's life. The film does a compelling exploration of the constantly changing music/entertainment industry and society throughout the 1900's in which inspired one of Bob Dylan's best songs "The Times They Are A Changin".The direction, cinematography and editing are all outstanding along with amazing performances from all six actors playing incarnations of Bob Dylan including Cate Blanchett who should've won an Oscar for her performance and I consider hers to be the best performance of a recording artist in cinematic history so far.I'm Not There is a great watch for all fans of Bob Dylan and for music and film fans in general.