Crawdaddy! The Magazine of Rock

I’m Not There
Director: Todd Haynes
Killer Films: 135 min.

I walked out of the movie thinking, “Maybe I’m just really stupid and don’t get it, but that movie was pretty awful to watch.” Then, later, I looked on RottenTomatoes.com and saw that 81 percent of reviews (that are in so far, mind you, but a high percentage nonetheless) are in favor of I’m Not There, the fragmented biopic of Bob Dylan by Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine). And I think that, knowing people were going to garner this as “Dylan heaven” as I watched the movie, is the notion that freaked me out the most. That folks are going to love this biopic, which is more about getting hit over the head with blatant symbolism rather than Bob Dylan’s music. Cue the nuns, the giant tarantula, and the lady that lights her hair on fire; cue Allen Ginsberg (David Cross) riding up alongside “Jude’s” car as they both ride past a cemetery. And that ain’t even the start of it. Like one review said, the most amazing thing about this movie is the fact that Dylan gave his permission. Amen.

This movie’s target audience is anyone in film school, but it isn’t necessarily for fans of Bob Dylan’s music. For some folks, it’ll make them think the key to understanding Dylan is hidden within its layers upon layers, and it may, in fact, take several viewings of this movie to understand the core statement, if there is one at all. And if there isn’t one, it seems folks will say it’s Dylan who doesn’t have the core instead of the movie. It’s my belief that Haynes, while coming up with a lofty and interesting idea indeed, ultimately took on too much to give this film any cohesive narrative whatsoever.

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