Review of I'm Not There (2007) by Isabelle W — 23 Jul 2012

When I saw "Ray" and then the following year, "Walk The Line," I was like, "damn, those are some great movies." I have since realized that they're not that spectacular. They're mostly glossy, formulaic depictions of men who did great things for music and did not get that greatness reciprocated in their cinematic depictions.

If only Todd Haynes had captained those films, because his artistic, multi-representation of Bob Dylan brings a whole new meaning to "free-wheelin'" and affirms itself as the most original musical biopic out there.

Depicting Bob Dylan as six different fictional characters was genius move as it shows how transitional and adapting to the times Bob Dylan was, and acts as a metaphor for the universality of his music.

Cate Blanchett obviously steals the show, you've probably heard this already, and I'd say probably deserves some sort of nomination for this, but the always gold Christian Bale, a subtle Richard Gere, and Heath Ledger all bring it to the table as well, never attempting to outshine one another.

By far the toughest role went to little Marcus Carl Franklin, playing the early, hobo Dylan. After his first few lines you realize casting a black kid for this part wasn't a stretch at all.

You can see movies about musicians, and then you can see this one,a cinematic portrait that's as wild and and groundbreaking as the artist it depicts.