I saw the Bob Dylan quasi-biopic I'm Not There tonight. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's a great movie--although it's not a bad one by any means. What it is, though, is a great concept just about perfectly executed. A straightforward biopic about Bob Dylan really would not work. Dylan has entrenched himself so deeply into the culture of America for the last thirty plus years that a different approach was necessary to tell his story.
So what director Todd Haynes did was do a movie about the myth of Dylan rather than the life of Dylan. By blurring the lines of fact and fiction (which is what Dylan has done his entire career anyway) Haynes managed to form what I felt was a really daggone accurate portrayal of the legend of Dylan. When I first heard about this film I felt like the whole getting different actors to play Bob Dylan was somewhat of a gimmick. Again, though, if you think about it there's really no other way to have done it (at least no other way to have done it that would have been nearly as fascinating.)
It is pretty interesting, though, the thought of an abstract biographical film. There's really no structure, it's just a portrait of the impact of one man. It paints the perfect picture as to what it was that made (makes) Dylan what he is. It explains his mythology perfectly without ever really bothering to explain anything. Either you get it, or you're not listening.
Is I'm Not There essential viewing? Not really. As far as rock biopics go I'd rank Control slightly above this one. If you're a Dylan afficianado then definitely go see it. I'd recommend, however, that you go with someone who isn't a Dylan fan, if only because it could spark a very spirited discourse.
(Watching ths movie made me start thinking about which rock/music icons would be just as equally difficult to tackle as Bod Dylan. The Beatles? Bruce Springsteen? The Velvet Underground? David Bowie? One could make a case that the Haynes-directed Velvet Goldmine was a Bowie biopic but it's more of a portrait of the entire glam era. On the flipside there are some acts that are dying to be immortalized on the big screen. Guns N Roses is the first that comes to mind.)
