I'm Not There

I'm Not There -

Todd Haynes' biopic on Bob Dylan is...ummm... a lot of things, really, but I'm not sure what to make of it yet. It seems like he realized after he started filming that he couldn't go with a docudrama, because there have been lots of documentaries, most of them very good, about the man. So he went into fantasy and metaphorical depictions of Dylan's life, most notably by using different names and actors for various stages of Dylan's career. It works sometimes, but other times it's weird (still don't get what the Richard Gere segment is all about). Maybe Haynes made this hard to define purposefully to emulate Dylan. I can see that.

There are some great performances and ridiculous cameos, and the music is great, but it's such a strange mix of elements. This is coming from someone who loves Luis Bunuel and Terry Gilliam.... I can love weird, but I don't know if I love this. Still, if you like Dylan, or you like offbeat films, I think it's a great choice. It deserves to be seen, and heard (some of the covers here are fantastic - Malkmus? Vedder? Tengo????)