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Skillfully executing an ambitious mainstream movie
using avant garde techniques doesn't mean you'll end up
with a good movie. "I'm Not There" is literal in many respects
as there's no movie truly here. Examining the career of
Bob Dylan via the various personas he has projected over
the years and having different, dissimilar actors play the
role is certainly a novel concept but that novel concept
wears pretty thin very quickly with this film. ***
About the only thing truly noteworthy about "I'm Not
There" is the parade of Hollywood stars who lined up to
portray different aspects/personas of Dylan over the years
from an African American youth Marcus Carl Franklin to Cate
Blanchet who deservedly won an Academy Award nomination
for her cross dressed and eerily accurate take on Dylan.
The characters we see are never referred to as Dylan calling
themselves everything from "Woody Guthrie" (an actual folk
singer and inspiration of Dylan's) to poet Arthur Rimbaud
who was also an inspiration for the budding songwriter.
***
I'm not going to mince words--"I'm Not There" is skillfully
made but it's a bad film that fails to grab your attention
because it's pretentious and any sense of fun that we might
have as an audience with such an audacious undertaking gets
squeezed out due to the "look ma no hands" in your face
technique of director/co-writer Todd Haynes ("Safe" and
"The Velvet Goldmine"). ***
Director Haynes and his actors Blanchett, the late
Heath Ledger, Richar Gere, Christian Bale and Ben Whishaw
all give stunning performances but even the most brilliant
performances can't save this movie which grinds to a halt
within the first 15 minutes of the film. ---
Image & Sound:
"I'm Not There" certainly has presence. Visually, the
film looks stunning with the grainy black & white footage
having sharp detail with nice contrast and provides a nice
counterpoint to the "interview" footage that was shot in
color. ***
Audio sounds terrific as well with a nice, crisp mix
featuring Dylan songs as a often effective counterpoint
to the visuals we see on screen. ---
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