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Oscar Watch: Todd Haynes, I'm Not There

by Chris Flippo
02/10/2008

Editor’s Note: We’re trying to double back to get all the Oscar-nominated films we may have missed. Tune in to the Academy Awards telecast on February 24th to see if Cate Blanchett wins for I’m Not There.

Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There is one of the few films where you may know less about the artist after seeing their biopic. You may think you know Bob Dylan, that iconic folk singer who enjoyed confusing the press and who made a big stir when he went electric. You may know him as the non-sequitur spouting madman from “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Of course, according to Haynes, you really don’t know Bob at all.

The new Dylan biopic presents him as a man so large in importance, it takes no less than six actors to portray him (however, as far as I can remember, it has only ever taken one actor to play Jesus Christ). Since a plot description for I’m Not There threatens to become a list, I decided to go ahead with one. Included in the film are:

*Cate Blanchett as Jude Quinn, who is Bob Dylan at his most famous.

*Marcus Clark Franklin as ‘Woody Guthrie,’ a talented kid who is still trying to find his own artistic voice.

*Ben Whishaw as a nameless young poet-slash-rebel... who I would guess is Bob Dylan.

*Christian Bale as Jack Rollins, who is Bob Dylan at his most political.

*Heath Ledger as Robbie Clark, who is Bob during a difficult divorce.

*Richard Gere as Billy the Kid, who I believe is Bob Dylan after he found a cowboy hat.

Of the six actors to play Bob Dylan, Cate Blanchett is the most successful. That’s a very safe thing for me to say, considering she was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal. However, it’s not only a stunning transformation (I, for one, don’t think she looks a thing like Dylan), but it’s a great performance in its own right. An hour into the film, you’ll think beyond Haynes’s gimmick and see only Bob Dylan. You may not be crazy about the idea right now, but believe me, after seeing the film, you’ll be a believer, too.

I’m Not There plays like an experiment in non-linear storytelling. Not only do we have six actors portraying Dylan, but the film switches between these narratives almost on a whim. There is no way to tell which Dylan you will find in the next scene. That’s a strange technique, but an oddly fitting one. Throughout his many decades as an artist, has anybody correctly guessed what Bob Dylan will do next?

However, I’m Not There is a film I respected more than I actually enjoyed. Haynes’s basic premise is a good one, but unless you were told that the film is based on “the many lives of Bob Dylan,” you wouldn’t understand a thing that was happening. That’s not always a bad thing (who wants a film to pander to its audience?), but I really believe Haynes is grasping at straws here. If you want to make a film about this folk-singing man of mystery, wouldn’t the proper vantage point be of those that were closest to him - his friends, his wives, his fans? By fragmenting the mystery, Haynes gets his point across, but he loses the backbone of the film. It’s an interesting approach, but maybe Haynes is a little bit too reverent.

I’m still going to recommend I’m Not There. It doesn’t reach the dizzying heights of Control because it lacks that film’s humanity. To a seasoned Bob Dylan fan, it’s a dream come true. For everybody else, it might be better to find something else. It’s a good film, alright, but don’t expect to look back.

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