I profess I know little about Bob Dylan, his music or the life he has lived. While that should not be construed as my saying I don’t care for the guy (I actually think the songs I’ve heard – few as they may be – are excellent), the meaning that should be taken from that statement is that I just never took the time to get to know him. My parents loved The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles and Elton John, my education in the world of classic pretty much beginning and ending with them.

Cate Blanchett is Bob Dylan in Weinstein Company's I'm Not There

So pardon me if I don’t quite get what it is writer and director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) is going for with his latest adventurous and challenging opus I’m Not There. Said to be inspired by the life and many personas of Dylan, the film follows six different characters in varying time periods who might all actually be one in the same. Their paths seldom, if ever, cross, the world around each of them struggling to catch up with the varying points of view and interpersonal philosophies each of them espouses.

It’s a dizzying achievement, the picture blowing here and there as if blown by the proverbial wind. Some of it is freakishly brilliant, other parts no so much, while the majority of it is so oddly surrealistic and unusual I equal parts couldn’t take my eyes off of it while also scratching my head in bewilderment wondering what it is actually all about. It is unique in the extreme and certainly original but it is also nearly indecipherable, and by the time I walked out of the theater my head was a jumbled mass of metaphors, symbolism and ideas frantically searching for a way to connect all of them together into something understandable.

And that was after the second viewing. This is the type of film a person just has to see twice to even remotely attempt to get a feel for it and even then it is doubtful they’re going to make too much in the way of sense out of any of it. It’s a gloriously beautiful and freakishly absorbing mess, and no matter what else you can say about the thing it goes without saying this is one motion picture a person is never likely to forget.

Of the six different stories, the one featuring a brilliant Cate Blanchett is easily the best. She’s an absolute chameleon, disappearing so completely inside he 1960’s era Dylan (named Jude Quinn here) the impact is almost revolutionary. This is one of the great supporting performances of our time, the film attaining a magnetic energy and dreamlike vitality much of the rest of it can only dream about equaling.

Of the rest, the only one that didn’t work for me in the slightest was Richard Gere’s Western outlaw Dylan-as-Billy-the-Kid section mainly because I couldn’t quite grasp how this short vignette fit with the rest of the picture. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there obsessed with the singer’s lore, persona and history who know exactly what it is Haynes is attempting, unfortunately I’m just not one of them. This section of the film basically just sat there for me, the time spent trying to decipher it time I can only wish I might be able to get back.

The other Dylans are played in various guises by Ben Whishaw, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Marcus Carl Franklin, while the craggily voice of Kris Kristofferson narrates the proceedings like a Texas preacher languidly orating the gospel. The whole thing is brilliantly shot by Edward Lachman (A Prairie Home Companion), while Judy Becker’s (Brokeback Mountain) is a constantly eye-popping wonder of innovative inspiration.  

I don’t know. Maybe I’m just not smart enough to get it, but while I respect and admire whatever it is Haynes is going for here I'm still not about to admit to understanding something I do not. For me, I’m Not There is the kind of film people will say is brilliant mainly because they’re afraid to admit what I just embarrassingly have. I say bad on them, and no matter which persona I choose for myself the one that believes in being honest is the only one I even remotely feel comfortable writing with. 

Film Rating: êê1/2  (out of 4)

Additional Links:

-  I'm Not There Theatrical Trailer