Sep 07, 2007,
Dre Rivas
One of this year's most peculiar films has to be Todd Haynes' bizarre Bob Dylan piece I'm Not There. The real Bob Dylan never actually appears in the movie but is instead portrayed by at least six different actors. Most of the actors are rather unconventional choices so let's break them down.
Marcus Carl Franklin as Dylan the child
Give Todd Haynes credit for being color blind on his casting choices. The 11-year-old Franklin, playing a young guitar picking Dylan representative by the name of "Woody," is black while Dylan is of course a crusty 66-year-old white man. The idea here is that young Dylan was in his early Woody Guthrie phase and had not yet come into his own. So what do I think of this approach? Well, Groucho Marx once said, "I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal." I might settle for a box of Whoppers in my theater seat. (Editor's Note: I've read the quote and follow-up thought used here around a dozen times... yet I'm still not sure I "get" it. I guess that's Bob Dylan for you.)
Ben Wishaw as Dylan the young poet
Wishaw is the guy who played the creepy Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. I've always found Dylan to be more than a little creepy too so I can see this working. I wonder why they didn't get his son, Jakob to play a young Dylan. Has it really been so long since The Wallflowers were around?
Heath Ledger as Dylan the young actor
Ledger plays an actor portraying a Dylan-like character in a movie within this movie or maybe he's Dylan the actor playing somebody else ... or himself ... I have a headache.
Christian Bale as Dylan the gospel singer
Remember Dylan's gospel singing phase? Me neither because I wasn't into him back then (this was the Grover and Big Bird rock circa for me). Anyway, Bale plays that guy. This is the only actor on this list I could actually see doing a Walk The Line-type biopic. But who needs another one of those?
Richard Gere as Dylan the Kid
From what I gather, Gere plays an aged Billy The Kid who also happens to represent Dylan. Does anybody have any Advil? I will pay by the tablet.
Cate Blanchett as wisecracking Dylan in the '60s
Yes, Cate Blanchett plays Dylan. This is after he "sold out" by plugging in an electric guitar and became a semi-rock icon. And if you are rolling your eyes, I would implore you to check out this clip for not only Blanchett's wicked fun impression of Dylan, but David Cross's brief channeling of Allen Ginsberg.
Now, I've read that there are actually seven portrayals of Dylan in the film but for the life of me don't know who or what that seventh one is. That's why I'm just going to make it up. Efficient!
Russell Crowe as the bruising Dylan
This is the section of Dylan's life where he gives everybody dirty looks and kicks their ass if they eyeball him. Also, he reads poetry. Listen to "Tambourine Man" backwards a few times and you'll know exactly what I mean.
So stay tuned, the buzz on this one is still blowing in the wind (sorry, couldn't resist). I'm Not There releases on a limited basis November 21st.
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Dre writes three times a week for Film.com. He could have been a Dylan, if not a contender.
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