I'm Not There

I'm not sure if I'm Not There is a film devoted Bob Dylan fans will appreciate, or even like. Although it's clearly a love letter to the singer from director Todd Haynes the film is just such a mishmash of styles (and at times limited substance) that it's bound to infuriate anyone looking for any real insight into the mercurial entertainer's life and art.

If you are willing to suspend your expectations though, the film can be a delight.

To tell his interpretation of Dylan's life and impact on the world, Haynes uses a series of different actors to bring the different phases of Dylan's career to life. Some of them work, like the intense portrayal Christian Bale gives of the angry young Dylan trying to deal with success, fame and fan expectations. Some of them, like the silly performance of Richard Gere as the aging artist living the life of a recluse, fall flat.

And then there's the Oscar-nominated work of Cate Blanchett as the Dylan/Messiah figure who goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival, an act of musical protest that few artists before or since have had the guts to even attempt, let alone see through to its end. The film is worth seeing if only to enjoy Blanchett's mesmerizing transformation into the curly-headed self-destructive force that Dylan became as he struggled to reinvent his art. Few actors have the power of transformation that Blanchett does, and this is among her most brilliant disguises.