I'm Not There

“I’m Not There,” directed by Todd Haynes and written by Haynes and Oren Moverman about the life and music of Bob Dylan, is a puzzle of a movie. If you’re expecting another “Ray,” think again. Haynes mixes myth and reality, deconstructing the life of a musical icon and reconstructing a loose narrative told in different styles by different actors. There’s plenty of Dylan’s music, but you’re never sure who the real Dylan is. Is he the young child (Marcus Carl Franklin) who rides the rails in the late 1950s and calls himself Woody Guthrie? Is he a singer (Christian Bale) in the Greenwich Village scene? Is he a musical spokesman (Cate Blanchette) for the hippie generation or a pill-popping rock ‘n’ roller? Is he an actor (Heath Ledger)? Haynes seems to think so. When you’re finished with “I’m Not There,” you’re left with impressions, pieces you must put together to determine who Bob Dylan is. But you never know for sure and that’s part of the charm of this movie. It certainly requires a second – maybe even a third – viewing. (11/26/07)