Review of I'm Not There (2007) by Laura M — 24 Jun 2009

A film of 6 or so Dylans, each played by a different actor. The first is a young black boy claiming to be "Woody Guthrie." The film is not, as far as I can tell, intended as a farce, but all I could think of was "The Jerk," and Steve Martin's claim that "I was born a poor black child.

" Each actor's performance as one of Dylan's mercurial personae is interesting, and it can be fun picking out the various moments from his life or echoes of scenes from "Don't Look Back" (e.

G. the going electric "Judas" moment when Pete Seeger tried to cut the wire with an axe, his betrayal of Joan Baez , the weird white face paint period, etc.) Never mind that the narrative doesn't hold together or have a consistent thread--that seems to be the point of "I'm Not There.

" There is no consistent, underlying narrative "self;" rather, Dylan seems to be a superficial shape-shifter, adopting different personalities as necessity--or the mood--strikes. Very post-modern, this notion of a series of masks with no inviolable "self" wearing them--although Dylan certainly has "ego" to spare.

I love Dylan's music, but I suspect I liked this movie more than I'd like Dylan himself (at least based on the world class in Pennebaker's "Don't Look Back.").