I'm Not There
2007
**
Director: Todd Haynes
Cast: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, Charlotte Gainsbourgh
A fictional drama about the many lives of Bob Dylan. During the course of the film, Dylan's name is never mentioned, but he appears in the shape of a 11-year-old black drifter named Woody Guthrie, a young poet named Arthur Rimbaud, a folk/gospel singer named Jack Rollins, an actor and family man named Robbie Clark, a confrontational rock star named Jude Quinn and as an elderly Billy the Kid. This is an ambitious project, but what exactly is Haynes’ ambition? The whole thing is very well put together, but the film drifts aimlessly from one Dylan incarnation to the next. The narrative, so to speak, is not emotionally engaging or even terribly interesting, and the 135 dreamy minutes are an endurance test. Perhaps it makes perfect sense to a fan. Dylan's originals and cover versions feature heavily on the soundtrack.
