Review: 'I'm Not There' at Grand Junction's Avalon

Disjointed and discombobulated as it is, try thinking of “I’m Not There” as a Bob Dylan song acted out. As with the balladeer’s lyrics, the movie’s loaded with metaphors and surrealism and open to different interpretations, though the core messages of each vignette are obvious.

As I’ve said before, I could watch Cate Blanchett recite the alphabet for two hours and probably enjoy it. She is her generation’s Meryl Streep in my opinion. “I’m Not There” is a back-and-forth semi-portrayal of Dylan’s life, and Blanchett is Dylan in his young-man years, doing too many drugs and womanizing a storm. Blanchett’s rock star is hilarious and mesmerizing, and very believable. I’m not saying she makes you forget she’s actually a woman. She doesn’t have that in her. What she does is put across a cynical, comical, highly intelligent person supposedly uncomfortable with adulation. Dylan has said many times that he’s no guru for the modern age, but merely really good at telling a tale, and to, please, take it for what it’s worth. Yet Blanchett’s Jude Guild obviously loves the limelight.

Watching Blanchett weave and bob and be rude, crude and belligerent, go electric on stage for the first time, or party, then duel, with a reporter out to debunk the myth, is an amazing thing to watch.

A young black actor, Marcus Carl Franklin, is Woody, a pubescent Dylan grooving on down the road with Woody Guthrie chops, riding the rails and toting a beat-up old guitar.

The kid’s swagger is enjoyable, and his singing is excellent. This is a part of the movie that really hasn’t much at all to do with Dylan except in, once again, a metaphorical, analogous way and the fact that Dylan was inspired by Guthrie.

Ben Wishaw plays Dylan as Arthur Rimbaud. The poet Rimbaud was also one of Dylan’s inspirations. A congressional committee interviews him off and on throughout the film, and he’s spot-on with Dylan’s public persona.

Christian Bale nails him as well, playing Dylan older and loosening his ties to the music world to follow a rather conservative religious path. All of these characters have different names, which adds to the fact that this is no cut-and-paste bio picture like “Ray” or “Walk the Line.” In fact, Richard Gere appears on horseback in another century, and Woody the young black train tramp from 1959 shows up. Go figure that one and let know me know, because other than the apocalyptic feel of the story, and the fact that Dylan had a country phase, I failed to get the gist.

Then there is Heath Ledger as a young actor who has nothing to do with music, but as you will see, the reason he’s in it is obvious. And Julianne Moore playing a Joan Baez type being interviewed and very folkie, is a stereotypical shot that rings true and funny, at least to me. Although she has a beautiful voice, I’ve always felt Baez is a bit of a hack.

Todd Haynes directed “I’m Not There” and if you are clueless about Dylan’s life, you’ll probably not get into the flick. Fifteen minutes on a Google site should bring you up to speed enough to appreciate it. No matter what you think of his voice, with the exception of a decade or so, the 67-year-old Dylan has recorded some great tunes and he’s still at it.

Parts of “I’m Not There” are just plain silly, some of it drags, and if you are expecting a straight-ahead biopic of someone’s life, forget it. The film is made differently than others, and that aspect adheres well to Dylan. He certainly isn’t of the norm. After a bit of a grind in the beginning, I started to really enjoy the movie and was glad to be watching it. Also, Cate Blanchett is in it a lot and makes it worthwhile. Does my crush show?