You don’t have to know much about Bob Dylan to see that “I’m Not There” is a wonderful biopic and just a fascinating movie in general. Todd Haynes, the director, takes a Dylan type direction to piece together a scrapbook of enchanting images both emblematic and realistic to visualize the singer’s career. On the DVD one can navigate the movie either by scene or by song. “I’m Not There” is original, genius and beautiful, which can be admired by both Dylan fans and non Dylan fans.
The Good:
Its Novelty-ness: From the order of events to the personas to the narrative style to the dialogue, “I’m Not There” is fresh and inspired.
No Need to Be a Fan: The movie’s details of the star’s life may make more sense if audiences already know a bit about Bob Dylan. However, it’s not a requirement and “There” is still captivating. One could picture that it’s about a fictional singer and still there are aspects of the movie to admire.
Biopic Is Only a Label: Precise details about the singer’s life are not revealed in the film. Think of it more as an art show displaying roughly some of the events and themes that occurred during Dylan’s early career.
The Cast: Altering themselves into the one man they all represent are six actors who have all either been nominated for or won film or acting related awards. That’s an impressive cast including Richard Gere, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, and Heath Ledger among others.
The Bad:
Its Novelty-ness: “I’m Not There” strays from convention and could loose some viewer’s attention (due to the 6 different actors, the timeline aspects, etc). It’s definitely not meant for the “Transformers” type crowd, which is fine, but audiences should just be made aware of that before they press the Play button.
Subtitles: Yep, subtitles may be needed even though it’s an English speaking film.
Assistance Please: Some help may be needed as a guide to the events of the film. Try typing “I’m Not There” into Wikipedia (I did).
It’s Long: There seems to be a recent trend of very long movies. “I’m Not There” runs a little over 2 hours.
In The End:
“I’m Not There” uses imagination, fresh cinematography and a familiar soundtrack to create an enthralling film. Regardless if you know a lot about Bob Dylan or not you can still enjoy the captivating and artistic acting, writing, and directing.
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