Review of I'm Not There (2007) by Reece L — 22 Nov 2015

I'm Not There operates on an intriguing premise and is filmed beautifully, but this is ultimately Haynes at his most unrestrained and excessive, a mode I really don't prefer. The idea to have six different actors portray different aspects of Dylan's persona and to communicate the universality of his music is daring, and several of the performances this format yields are excellent (Blanchett, Franklin, and Whishaw particularly), but the constant hopping from story to story never coalesces in a way that feels all that compelling (it's not meant to, but the effect isn't what was intended); intellectually brilliant, but dramatically inert.

Haynes creates the worlds of the different Dylans impeccably, but I was never truly grabbed by those gorgeous visuals due to the almost sterile nature of the construction, and this ultimate failure to foster a sense of emotional connection is what blunts its impact so severely given the legendarily soulful nature of its subject.

That said, it's worthwhile for fans of Haynes' other work, and Blanchett is almost worth the two and a half hours on her own.