The Thousands

One element of the new Bob Dylan biopic is getting all the press: a half-dozen actors (male, female, black, white) playing Dylan at different points of his life. What could have been a mildly interesting gimmick becomes something much, much more interesting in the hands of Todd Haynes.

He’s delved into this territory before with his retold glam-history, VELVET GOLDMINE, but – while it was certainly pretty – the Bowie and Iggy analogues felt like they were all sizzle, no steak. None of the actors in I’M NOT THERE feel like they’re doing impressions, though; Cate Blanchett’s is probably the most accurate, but it’s also the most artificial, as she’s portraying Dylan at the most artificial time of his life.

**And when many life stories are just one script-doctored, life-changing event clanging awkwardly into the next, Haynes is much less depressingly literal. He disposes of Dylan’s motorcycle accident in a throwaway scene, preferring to spend his screen time on an extended, left-field allegory starring Richard Gere as Billy the Kid.

Dylan fetishists might hate I’M NOT THERE, but Dylan himself should love it. If you’re willing to go with its wildly symbolic swerves, it’s playful even at its most pretentious.