I'M NOT THERE

Director: Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, Velvet Goldmine)
Starring: Ensemble cast incl. Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere

Who has time for reviews? Not me, that's who. So here's a lightning round of barely sensible thoughts on some films I've recently seen.

I'm Not There is at times ungainly and occasionally so "showy" as to annoy. It's confounding and confusing. It has no plot. It has no characters. (Quite literally, there is no plot to this movie.) It's also intriguing, unique, brave and (at times) pretty smart. Mostly it's a little silly though, as we get an interwoven cavalcade of different actors playing the various public personas of Bob Dylan in a series of imagined (or not so imagined) episodes in his life. For instance, a little black child (Marcus Carl Franklin) portrays the fake childhood Dylan claimed early in his career, that of a poor boy hopping the rails, a Woody Guthrie for a new generation.

It's absolutely necessary to have an excessive knowledge of the life of Bob Dylan to appreciate this film (which means you should know trivial things like Lay Lady Lay was written about a dog, or the basics of his relationship with Joan Baez). There's no reason anyone should know these things, but many, many people do. That's why he's famous. Hence the film. Anyway ...

Todd Haynes unique film would seem to be a study of mythology. I think the film is probably good enough to deserve more time thinking about it than I'll give it, but my first reaction was that Haynes is wrong in what he presents. He seems to find great delight in Myth. For me myth is nuthin more than what we come up with to help smooth over our own flaws. So any study of myth necessarily requires a study of the mythologizer. This movie does not touch that, except in an rather esoteric way. So says I ...

... after barely thinking about it for all of 90 seconds. (I.e. It's not a bad movie at all. I suggest you make up your own mind on this one.)

Standouts: Todd Haynes - this imaginitive film was the work of a true artist.
Blowouts: Todd Haynes - this frustrating film was nearly nonsensical at times.

Grade: B+