Intoxicating and Brilliant: I'm Not There

I'm Not There
Directed by Todd Haynes
Released November 21, 2007

Todd Haynes' bizarre look at the "many lives" of Bob Dylan is a fresh and infectious film. I know pretty much nothing about the history or music of Bob Dylan, and this weird and warped movie does little to enlighten me, but I sure enjoyed it, and I am certain that Dylan fans will love it as well and may even enjoy it more. It absolutely works better than this year's Beatles film "Across the Universe", this time inserting music as transitions between scenes or background music rather than a distracting, front-and-center barrage. I really disliked the Richard Gere segment, but the rest were fantastic. Each of the five actors who portray Dylan's alter agos (I am discounting Gere) get so perfectly lost in the roles. I personally enjoyed Marcus Carl Franklin as an 11-year-old guitar-playing prodigy the best, but there is no denying that Cate Blanchett's portrayal is truly impressive. The most wonderfully surprising thing about this film is that it actually tells a compelling story even though it is continually confusing and splinters Dylan's history into six different people in six different times. This one is playing at a select few theatres, but I highly recommend checking it out once it expands.

B+