An esoteric biopic of the life of Bob Dylan. It vaguely follows his life as portrayed by different characters and actors: the Woody Guthrie wanna-be in black and white (Marcus Carl Franklin), the Greenwich Village folk singer Jack Collins (Christian Bale), The electrified finger-pointing rock-star Jude Quinn (Cate Blanchett), the adulterous movie-star Robbie (Heath Ledger), and the end-times outlaw Billy the Kid (Richard Gere). Throughout are segments of an interview with Dylan Thomas-esque poet Arthur Rimbaud (Ben Wishaw). All of which cuts back and forth in a choppy and mashed together version of a unique life that defies classification.

Dylan fans and possibly Dylan fans only. There is so much back and forth between the different characters that it takes a fan to understand which stage of Dylan's life each character represents.

The award-caliber, quality performance by Cate Blanchett as Dylan after he went electric. As you watch her performance, you'll forget its a woman playing the role of a man. She BECOMS Bob Dylan at this stage in his life.

It seemed like Dylan's foray into Christian music was being put down. Christian Bale played the Religious Dylan, which while many people didn't like Dylan's incursion into this genre, it remains a worthy and valid addition to his music catalog.

Watch it several times to pick up on the nuances that are easily missed while you're scratching your head.

There were no poor performances by this stunning cast. Even the actors who played minor characters such as the ones representing Joan Baez, Sara Lowndes, Allen Ginsberg, Bobby Neuwirth, and so on did what I thought were admirable jobs. Even the "Mr. Jones" was good.

It was fun to watch as a Dylan fan. It was interesting to watch each actor's interpretation of Dylan's usual fuzziness.

I don't recommend this who are unaware of Dylan's life. There are other, more useful treatments of his life for the uninitiated.

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Created Feb 23, 2024 at 8:14pm • Submit your own review...