I'm Not There (2007)
When I’m Not There came out in theaters, I had no desire to see it. I can’t stand Bob Dylan and consider the categorization of him as a “singer” as an insult to music. The premise of casting six different actors as the legendary singer, to pay tribute to how often he’s reinvented himself, I found disgusting. If he’s really had to “reinvent” himself so many times, wouldn’t he take it as a sign from God that he was in the wrong profession and should get his act together and, dare I say, get a real job?
The one and only reason I finally rented it was because it was Cate Blanchett’s week on Hot Toasty Rag, and since she was nominated for an Academy Award, I felt obliged to review it. As incredibly low as my expectations were, the movie was even worse than I thought possible. It was insulting to her five other costars that Cate was singled out and nominated, since both Christian Bale and Ben Whishaw sported the same messy wig, adopted the same lanky, awkward posture, and moved in the same spastic way. Simply put, Cate was nominated because she was the only woman who portrayed Bob Dylan. I’ve never thought basic anatomy was a reason to nominate someone for an Oscar, and it’s no great feat of acting on her part that she’s able to hide her femininity in loose clothing, or that without makeup she looks rather masculine.
Told in disjointed sections that might only make sense to the screenwriter, this ridiculous fictional portrayal of Bob Dylan doesn’t give any insight to his life or his personality. It merely features Heath Ledger acting like a jerk, Richard Gere sporting a beard and acting like a hobo, Christian Bale lip synching, Cate Blanchett wiping her nose and hunching her shoulders, Ben Whishaw sitting at a table in a one-sided interrogation, and Marcus Carl Franklin being treated like an adult and offered wine even though he’s ten years old. If you want to like this movie, you’d better be a Bob Dylan fan. No one else stands a chance.
More Cate Blanchett movies here!
The one and only reason I finally rented it was because it was Cate Blanchett’s week on Hot Toasty Rag, and since she was nominated for an Academy Award, I felt obliged to review it. As incredibly low as my expectations were, the movie was even worse than I thought possible. It was insulting to her five other costars that Cate was singled out and nominated, since both Christian Bale and Ben Whishaw sported the same messy wig, adopted the same lanky, awkward posture, and moved in the same spastic way. Simply put, Cate was nominated because she was the only woman who portrayed Bob Dylan. I’ve never thought basic anatomy was a reason to nominate someone for an Oscar, and it’s no great feat of acting on her part that she’s able to hide her femininity in loose clothing, or that without makeup she looks rather masculine.
Told in disjointed sections that might only make sense to the screenwriter, this ridiculous fictional portrayal of Bob Dylan doesn’t give any insight to his life or his personality. It merely features Heath Ledger acting like a jerk, Richard Gere sporting a beard and acting like a hobo, Christian Bale lip synching, Cate Blanchett wiping her nose and hunching her shoulders, Ben Whishaw sitting at a table in a one-sided interrogation, and Marcus Carl Franklin being treated like an adult and offered wine even though he’s ten years old. If you want to like this movie, you’d better be a Bob Dylan fan. No one else stands a chance.
More Cate Blanchett movies here!