I'm Not There [2007]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Unapologetically audacious, I'm Not There is more post-modern puzzle than by-the-numbers biopic. A title card sets the scene: "Inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan." Yet the film features no figure by that name. Instead, writer/director Todd Haynes presents six characters, each incarnating different stages in the artist's career. Perfume's Ben Whishaw, a black-clad poet, serves as a slippery sort of narrator. The action begins with the wanderings of an 11-year-old black runaway named "Woody Guthrie" (Marcus Carl Franklin)--his raucous duet with Richie Havens on "Tombstone Blues" is a highlight--and ends with a silver-haired Billy the Kid (Richard Gere) watching the Old West die before his eyes. In the interim, there's the folk singer-turned-preacher (Christian Bale), the actor (Heath Ledger), and the rock star (Cate Blanchett, who has Don't Look Back Dylan down to a science). The chronology is purposefully non-linear, and editor Jay ! Rabinowitz cuts rapidly, Jean-Luc Godard-style, between cinéma vérité black-and-white and saturated colour, Richard Lester-like slapstick and Fellini-inspired surrealism (Ed Lachman served as cinematographer).

What makes the picture fun for Dylan fans--and potentially frustrating for neophytes--is that every album and movie bears an alternate title. Ledger's Robbie, for instance, stars in "Grain of Sand," actually a reference to the Pete Seeger song. As in Haynes' glam rock reverie Velvet Goldmine, the trickery involves the entire cast. While Julianne Moore plays former lover Alice, a dead ringer for Joan Baez, Michelle Williams embodies elusive scenester Coco, i.e. Edie Sedgwick. If I'm Not There is less affecting than Control, the year's other big music film, it rewards repeat viewings like few biographical features. The soundtrack mixes originals with covers, like Jim James's heartfelt "Goin' to Acapulco." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-11-25 rating:
Words fail, but not as much as the film...
A much more interesting and watchable film may have emerged if the Hayden Christianson 'Dylan' character from 'Factory Girl' was juxtaposed with Cate Blanchett's 'Dylan' character from 'I'm Not There'. The result might have been a lot shorter, but much more interesting.

As it is: Too long, often incomprehensible (even by Dylan's worst excesses), too much time on Richard Gere and the young boy (as talented as Marcus clearly is) and unbelievably boring. I wish my husband hadn't bought it for me, because I would feel guilty selling it off. But I can't bring myself to play it again, even with Blanchett being the only top-rate performance. Save your time and money.

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review by: dandylozza date: 2008-11-11 rating:
Engage your brain, and you will be rewarded.
Wasn't sure what to expect from this, and I admit to leaving it on the coffee table for weeks before I finally slid it into the machine, but man....... this is easily the best film I've seen this year. Narratively inventive, stylistically diverse, philosophically robust, Todd Haynes has created something that is at the cutting edge of modern biography. Pure class!

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review by: date: 2008-08-05 rating:
Pretentious Tosh
Complete pretentious twaddle. Fell asleep after ten minutes. Dont watch this film you will never get the time back. I only gave it one star because Amazon won't let me give it zero.

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review by: Mojo Pin date: 2008-07-19 rating:
Almost amazing.
I love Dylan and when I heard that a movie of his life was going to be made I was caught between excitement and anxiety. Anxiety becasue biopics are usually so naff they undermine the artists they try to portray. But Haynes nearly - nearly - succeeds where so many have failed.

Firstly the multiple Dylans is a stroke genius. Blanchette and Ledger stand out and make the film worth watching by themselves. However, its biggest strength is its biggest weakness. It's not long before you become lost in the stories and the various narratives. It becomes very difficult to seperate the different strands and Richard Gere's portrayal is just baffeling while Bale's is cheesey in the extreme(but perhaps that's the point? Hmm, I wonder.)

Nevertheless it's beautifully shot, funny, intense, tragic and oh so many more adjectives that I can't think of right now. For Hollywood this is a remarkably inventive movie that is a must for Bob fans...though others may not get it.


review by: Drearghast House Film Vault date: 2008-07-16 rating:
Very challenging !!
This film has been described as challenging and sprawling, although, interminable, disjointed and pretentious could also be applied. It's the first movie I've ever walked out of after what seemed like several gruelling hours. Cate Blanchett's acting is brilliant and is the only 'accessable' thing in the whole film. You'll watch it if you're a Dylan fan, but probably only once.

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