Review of I'm Not There (2007) by Tyler E — 23 May 2013

A meditative study on Bob Dylan as six different people, with one person being a little black boy named Woody Guthrie and another person being a woman as a man. One can only imagine what unspeakable drugs were pumped into the makers of this film, because I'd imagine the idea of getting Cate Blanchett as a dude, alone, emptied a baggie or two, and that's not even close to the craziest idea behind this project, seeing as how Blanchett is such a phenomenal actress that her actually pulling the role off is hardly too absurd. "She takes just like a woman, - yes she does - she makes love just like a woman, - yes she does - and she aches just like a woman, but she looks like a sexually ambiguous interpretation of Bob Dylan." Hey, if any filmmaker can pull off a film that features a character whose gender is hard to figure out, it's the guy who did "Velvet Goldmine", a film about a guy based on a David Bowie character. Speaking of Todd Haynes, I can't tell if this film is his paying tribute to Dylan, or challenging Dylan to a toke-off, because, seriously guys, no matter how much this film works in a lot of ways, it's still a weird premise. Quite frankly, if this film is nothing else, it's a good sign that Haynes is making good progress on whatever journey he's on, because before this film, he was "far from Heaven", and now he's "knock-knock-kockin' on Heaven's door". Lame jokes and references to movies and songs aside, I at least know this much as a description of this film: awesome, or at least more often than not, because even with its excellence, don't go in expecting fairly large flaws to join Bob Dylan in not being there.

I never really expected this film to get too terribly experimental, or at least not as experimental as Bob Dylan's cinematic efforts (So yeah, Bob, how did that four-hour-long concert-documentary-drama crossover epic turn out for you?), but this film is such an artistic vision that I feared the strangeness that has undercut too many films of this type, so you can imagine my relief when I discovered this film's degree of artistic restraint: limited, for although this film is generally focused enough to be as immensely compelling as it ultimately is, there are still those occasions in which anything from bizarre imagery to overstylized storytelling ensue as offputting, partially because their incorporation in the midst of a generally traditionalist drama results in unevenness in storytelling method, whose inconsistency is still not as offputting as pacing's inconsistency. Needless to say, your attention toward the wealth of engagement value to this film wouldn't be as firmly secured as it is if it wasn't for liveliness' being kept adequately consistent by entertainment value, yet no matter how entertaining this film generally is, when it slow down, it kind of limps out, both when it comes to atmosphere and when it comes to story structure, because even though this film conceptually seems like it's barely getting by as an extensive six-person character study with a runtime of only 135 minutes, it still finds time to work in excess material and repetition to bloat things up a bit. The film is generally pretty tight, impressively doing a lot to flesh out a layered, branch-heavy character drama in only two hours and a quarter, but there's still fat around the edges on more than a few occasions, and considering that this execution of a meaty story concept's runtime sounds airtight on paper, it should pretty much go without saying that this film all too often finds itself trying a little too hard to make up for the gratuitous runtime bloating, and achieve the length that you figured would work perfectly in a perfectly tight final product. Even with all of its bloated spots, the film still has its moments in which it succumbs to hurried spells that don't thin out extensiveness in storytelling so intensely that expository depth is distanced too far, but nevertheless still thins out certain areas in development to the point of knocking a highly sensitive story structure out of balance a bit. The film follows six stories that vary in intricracy and are only directly connected through thematic depth, so, as you can imagine, we're looking at a plot concept that could easily fall apart as messy, and while this film's storytelling isn't so faulty that the final product comes out as too messy to sustain the excellence that it does ultimately walk away with, all of this unevenness in pacing and exposition leads to focal unevenness, which, before too long, turns into convolution that is bound to shake some's enjoyment of this film. The final product is doing things very right nearly all the time, but what it doesn't handled as well as it should is kind of hard to miss, thus making for an ambitious project that could have easily misfired and fallen short of its full potential. Of course, for every shortcoming, the film delivers on a highly commendable beat, building strength after strength until being finally firmly anchored as not simply good or strong, but unexpectedly excellent, at the very least, stylistically.

As I said earlier, there are those moments in which Todd Haynes' experimental style gets a little carried away with its strangeness and offbeat storytelling, but on the whole, Haynes' unique stylistic vision boasts plenty of potential as a compliment to nifty liveliness, and such potential goes thoroughly well-explored by such technical touches as Jay Rabinowitz's editing, whose refreshing style snappily structures scenes as colorfully stylish, while lively visuals that are, in fact, organic, if not often subtly thematically effective, dazzle, especially when accentuated by truly outstanding photography. I must admit that I really was expecting Edward Lachman's cinematography to, at some point, limp out as simply average, or at least have a look that you get a little to used to after a while, but most every shot in this film impresses, as Lachman keeps consistent with handsomely crisp definition and warm lighting that catches your eyes, if not your breath, while playing with formats, coloring and framing to distinguish each segment, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes in considerable ways, but consistently in ways that reflect the individual tone of each subplot, though not at the expense of certain recurring elements that bond each layer of this story, at least stylistically. Just about every segment in this film looks different, yet there is something considerably attractive about every beat to this stylistically dynamic piece of cinematic art, at least visually, thus making for an effort that succeeds at capturing its subject's rich artistic taste, as surely as it succeeds at selling you on its subject's rich musical tastes. Yeah, yeah, we can go on and on all day about how he wasn't too great of a singer or instrumentalist, and we can certainly go on and on all day about how some of his songs would feel as though they go on and on all day, but when it's all said and done, Bob Dylan is a worthy musical legend whose masterful songwriting has been regarded as lyrically provocative, melodically catchy and all around thoroughly entertaining throughout the years, so this film would be nothing if it didn't know what it was doing as an homage to one of the great songwriters, and sure enough, whether it's playing with Dylan's own efforts, or playing up undeniably worthy covers by a long, long list of modern talents, the film turns in a near-constant soundtrack that delivers time and again on both entertainment value and thematic heart that augments the substance of this film. Every bit as stylistically impressive as it is musically impressive, this film makes for a worthy artistic companion to the story of the great Bob Dylan, and that does a lot to get it by as excellent, but really, what really carries the final product as relatively outstanding is the proficency, not in style, but in substance, which, in all fairness, is backed by a pretty stylish vision. Rather than going the route of being a traditional biopic of Dylan, this film makes the audacious decision of loosely interpreting different key eras in Dylan's life, experienced by different individuals whose stories are more bonded through theme than branches, and while I would be interested in seeing Dylan's life as actually lived by Dylan in a linear fashion that gives you a more subject view of the legend's rocky rise, this story concept is fascinatingly original, and is respectful enough to the intrigue in Dylan's story to retain plenty of potential as a compelling dramatic character study. This film was never to be a bonafide masterpiece, but its premise is rich with potential that could have been undercut by execution that isn't as assured as it should be, but is ultimately done justice by inspired storytelling efforts that go as far back as the writing stages.

Sure, there could be more artistic restraint in Todd Haynes' and Oren Moverman's script, as well as more evenness in pacing and focal structure, but on the whole, the writing behind this film is mighty strong, keeping color up with clever, often snappy dialogue that plays with a Bob Dylan-esque wit, but stays grounded enough to be reasonably buyable, complimenting the film's sprit, though not quite as much as the explorations of thematic depth that is remarkable, juggling several varying messages that are played with in a subtle, but effective fashion, as well as bonded through mutual elements that are bound to leave the invested to walk away, pondering upon just what is being said in this intriguing thematic tale. Haynes and Moverman flesh out the depths of this film's story with engrossing cleverness, but what really earns your investment is Haynes' and Moverman's fleshing out of the characters who drive this very human drama, whether they be supporting players in our leads' stories, or our leads themselves, who retain some bit of Bob Dylan's essence, but are crafted as individuals with distinguished traits that are further sold by inspired portrayals. For a somewhat low-profile drama, this film features a cast that is so studded with stars that if you were to look at the cast list, you would run the risk of going blind from all of the intense shimmering, and makes sure that most every member of this massive roster of talent has his or her time to shine, particularly when it comes those who represent sections of Dylan, such as the unevenly used and charismatic Ben Wishaw as a subtle and mysterious poet, the near-transformative Christian Bale as a visionary whose celebrity corrupts the artistiry that he grows to find again in religion, and the compelling Heath Ledger as a celebrity whose tainted stardom threatens a serious relationship with a great love. The stars just mentioned are but a few highlights in a hefty cast that is filled to the brim with talents who turn in performances that range from worthwhile to just downright outstanding, but at the end of the day, the real show-stealing force behind this film is Cate Blanchett, who shows up relatively late, but makes up for time lost by gripping you as thoroughly as any other lead in a performance that offers further evidence of her being as good as any actress alive, being effortlessly transformative in her astonishingly, not necessarily physically, but vocally, characteristically and atmospherically believable portrayal of a man, and a well-rounded one at that, who is composed of distinct traits of Dylan during his controversial post-protest, electric era, and traits that define the Jude Quinn character as his own character, thus making for a role that would be challenging enough for an actor, but is conquered with breathtaking ease by Blanchett, whose blazing charisma and subtle dramatic atmosphere create a humanly mysterious, layered and especially compelling lead in this heavily layered story that is full of compelling leads. You really do have to see Blanchett's performance in order to believe it, as it particularly goes to show how this film triumphs as a character study on the wings of well-rounded characterization and excellent acting, as surely as it triumphs as an artistic piece on the wings of fine visual and musical style, thus making for a final product that is comprised of strong aspects, but cannot be truly excellent unless inspiration is as present in direction as it is in style, writing and acting. Well, as sure as sunshine, in spite of their flaws, Todd Haynes' efforts as director really drive storytelling as worthwhile, keeping liveliness up just enough to meet every slow spell with a series of entertaining spells, until broken up by a rich exploration of thematic range and, of course, dramatic range, which steadily, but surely draws you into the intriguing and generally well-developed stories, securing your investment through all of the rises and falls that take place in every segment, to where you find yourself compelled by each and every one of this film's six primary plots, whose pay-offs range from richly rewarding to surprisingly pretty moving. Now, with all of my praise, the final product is not without its share of issues, and was never to be truly great, due to natural shortcomings in its story concept, but the point is that what is done right in this film is done so right that what you ultimately end up with is a film that is nothing short of surprisingly excellent, with enough style, entertainment value, compellingness and competence to work through shortcomings enough to stand as deeply rewarding.

When your mother sends back all your invitations and your father to your sister he explains that you're tired of yourself and all of your creations-I mean, when it's all over and done with (What, this soundtrack has most every Bob Dylan diddy, but no "Queen Jane Approximately"?), the occasional overstylized moment that drives unevenness into storytelling methods slow sown momentum a bit, though not as much as unevenness in pacing that breaks repetitious slow spells up with hurried moments that thin out expository focus enough to convolute the structure of this multi-lead character study, thus resulting in a final product that could have been driven short of its full potential by its shortcomings, but accels as truly excellent with the help of a fine style, - brought to life by clever editing and gorgeous, as well as dynamic cinematography - an excellent soundtrack, and compelling substance that is powered enough by clever writing, strong acting - especially from the astonishing Cate Blanchett - and deeply inspired direction to make "I'm Not There" a thoroughly entertaining and engrossing offbeat study on the experiences of a true music legend.

3.5/5 - Excellent.