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Movies / On DVD / I'm Not There
I'm Not There

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I'm Not There (2007)

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Reviews Counted:152

Fresh:117

Rotten:35

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: I'm Not There's unique editing, visuals, and multiple talented actors portraying Bob Dylan make for a deliciously unconventional experience. Each segment brings a new and fresh take on Dylan's life.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, some sexuality and nudity.

Runtime: 2 hrs 17 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release:21-12-2007

Synopsis: Todd Haynes (VELVET GOLDMINE, FAR FROM HEAVEN) delivers this dazzling, experimental take on the life of popular music's most revered and enigmatic artist: Bob Dylan. In keeping with the... Todd Haynes (VELVET GOLDMINE, FAR FROM HEAVEN) delivers this dazzling, experimental take on the life of popular music's most revered and enigmatic artist: Bob Dylan. In keeping with the impossible-to-pin-down nature of Dylan himself, Haynes chose to cast six different actors to portray several incarnations of the groundbreaking troubadour. The result is a challenging, sprawling work that spans several decades and genres. Woody (Marcus Carl Franklin) is a young black child with a folk music obsession; Jack Rollins (Christian Bale) is an upstart folksinger whose protest songs have ignited an entire generation; Arthur (Ben Wishaw) is a Rimbaud-esque figure who has begun to embrace a new form of lyrical poetry; Robbie (Heath Ledger) is a well-known actor whose marriage to the lovely Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) crumbles under the weight of his lifestyle; Billy (Richard Gere) is a slippery frontiersman who echoes Dylan's infatuation with the Old West and American folklore; and, finally, there is the substance-abusing, confrontational Jude (Cate Blanchett), who represents Dylan in the turbulent mid-1960s. Much in the same way that Dylan appropriated a vast array of musical styles to create his own vernacular, Haynes does the same thing with I'M NOT THERE, using his expansive knowledge of movie history to pay homage to a variety of movements and genres (Godard, Fellini, Lester, etc.). The typically extraordinary cinematographer Edward Lachman outdoes even himself this time around, incorporating so many different visual styles that it's impossible to decide which is the most beautiful. While the cast all fare well in their roles, it is Cate Blanchett who runs away with the picture, proving once again that she is one of the finest actors the movies have ever seen. [More]

Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere

Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, Charlotte Gainsbourg, David Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams

Director: Todd Haynes

Director: Todd Haynes
Screenwriter: Todd Haynes, Oren Moverman
Producer: James D. Stern, John Sloss, John Goldwyn, Christine Vachon
Studio: Weinstein Company

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Reviews for I'm Not There

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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A crazy film which shouldn't work, but for most of the time does.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
12/21/07
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Not a lot of fun.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment 5 Comments
12/21/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

This works so well that long before the end you don’t merely accept the use of these wildly diverse personae, but you may also even wonder whether Dylan’s story could properly be told any other way

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
12/21/07
Karl French
Karl French
Financial Times

There are also some great performances from Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and, particularly, Blanchett. But director Todd Haynes works under the misapprehension that everyone who sees this film will have a detailed knowledge of Dylan.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment 2 Comments
12/21/07
Sun Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This drama, a surreal, fractured examination of the mercurial singer-songwriter comes closer to revealing the man behind the music than anything that’s come before, but still preserves his essential mystery.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
12/21/07
Daily Mirror [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A fascinating work for cinema and Bob Dylan fans alike. Haynes has painted a perfect picture tribute to the musical icon that only misses a beat in the final quarter. One actor simply couldn’t do the man justice.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
12/21/07
Jonathan Dean
Jonathan Dean
Total Film

It’s not your average biopic but it’s unforgettable all the same.

Full Review Source: Sky Movies | comment Comment
12/21/07
Anna-Belen Dunlop
Anna-Belen Dunlop
Sky Movies

Haynes, astutely perhaps, has created a biopic with little time for "justice" or indeed any of the reverence and piety of recent films such as Walk the Line or Ray.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
12/21/07
Sukhdev Sandhu
Sukhdev Sandhu
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A powerfully reverent exercise in remystification, an attempt to waft some of the clouds of glory back around the great man, clouds that might have dispersed in recent years.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
12/21/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the sexiest pieces of cinema I’ve seen at a festival.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
12/21/07
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A multifaceted diamond of a film. Todd Haynes joyously freewheels through the times of Bob Dylan.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
12/21/07
Holly Grigg-Spall
Holly Grigg-Spall
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You'll have your work cut out keeping track of Haynes' dotty intentions, but there remains something compelling in his mercurial art.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
12/21/07
Ian Nathan
Ian Nathan
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An extraordinary attempt to encapsulate the many faces of Bob Dylan that plays better to the convert than the sceptic. Like the nasal twang of the man in question, the film finally beguiles more than it irritates.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/20/07
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Todd Haynes' bold, unconventional Dylan biopic is an experiment that doesn't always pay off, but there are strokes of genius in both the direction and performances.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/01/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

There's a wonderfully adventurous tone to this Bob Dylan biopic that keeps us utterly gripped, even though it's hard to get a grip on.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/20/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

An extraordinary puzzle of a biography that's ripe to be decoded.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
10/11/07
Dave Calhoun
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
09/15/07
Screen International
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Where is the defiant, sensuous expansiveness of Dylan's songs?

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/27/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

I'm Not There is coy and fatuous, but it also can be intriguing and thought-provoking. But I'm Not There makes us consider Dylan with new eyes.

Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | comment Comment
02/02/09
Tony Macklin
Tony Macklin
Fayetteville Free Weekly

Abstract expressionism, paying tribute to its hero in a fashion every bit as enigmatic and chameleon-like as the man himself. Is it a faux-documentary? Is it a biographical drama? At times, it is both. In the end, we are left with an ambitious misfire.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment 3 Comments
06/13/08
Rossiter Drake
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for I'm Not There

May 05, 2008: RT on DVD: I'm Not There is Here! Plus, News of the Blu-Ray Xbox 360 Rumors...
Microsoft comments on rumors that they'll be putting Blu-Ray players in Xbox 360s and the MPAA's best anti-piracy agents have bounties on their heads. Read more of this week's... More...

January 18, 2008: 2008 Movie Extra FILMINK Awards
The nominations for the 2008 Movie Extra FILMINK Awards, taking place in Sydney and televised nationally on Movie Extra on March 12th, have been announced. More...

January 14, 2008: And the Golden Globes Winners Are...
It was missing the glitz and glitter of previous years, but the 65th annual Golden Globes were held via press conference yesterday, with Atonement, The Diving Bell and the... More...

December 21, 2007: Awards Mania: Spirits, SAGs Get Waivers, Announce Nominations; Uncertainty Surrounds Golden Globes
Just when you think awards season can't get any awards-ier, here come two more sets of nominations! More...

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