I'm Not There: Review By Josh

I'm Not There is a difficult film to accept. On the one hand, its strong cast and unique structure make it enthralling to watch. Todd Haynes layers metaphors within metaphors and plays each storyline as both its own facet of Bob Dylan's person and an homage to a different filmmaker. This in itself is ambitious, but an unfortunate exercise in self-indulgence at the same time, as Joe-Filmgoer will get nothing but confusion. Walk The Line, it ain't.

You can always sort of see Haynes' intent while watching the film, but never quite figure out if it's working like he wants it to. Certain scenes are plain brilliant, and others work well enough, but I couldn't quite accept that in the end it all came together, and certainly not in any traditional narrative sense. Still, the unabashed presence of Dylan's music and the way the film brings it to life is in itself a reason to watch the film if you're a Dylan fan. If you're a film buff, you'll probably enjoy the great performances from Blanchett and others, and find it fun trying to pick out the references to Fellini, Goddard, etc.

Ultimately, though, the film can't surpass its own ambitions, and comes across as less of about Bob Dylan than about the director's own opinions of Dylan.