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I'm Not There
EMAILPRINTThe Weinstein Company

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 35 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 77 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Oren Moverman
Todd Haynes
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 21, 2007
DVD: May 6, 2008
Running Time: 135 minutes, Color
Origin: USA / Germany
Summary
RATING: R for language, some sexuality and nudity
Starring Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, Ben Whishaw, and Marcus Carl Franklin
I'm Not There is a film that dramatizes the life and music of Bob Dylan as a series of shifting personae, each performed by a different actor—poet, prophet, outlaw, fake, star of electricity, rock and roll, martyr born-again Christian—seven identities braided together, seven organs pumping through one life story, as dense and vibrant as the era it inspired. (The Weinstein Company)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Far from Heaven Velvet Goldmine
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
I'm Not There lets you hear it again, more majestically than ever.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The strangest thing about Todd Haynes's new movie isn't that he cast six actors to play the various faces and phases of Bob Dylan. It's that he needed only six.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Jeff Beresford-Howe
What Haynes has essentially done is create a film that is a Bob Dylan song, one of his best.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
This film insists on being taken on its own terms -- the sort of demand, in other words, that defines the best art.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
Faced with an artist defined more by his lyrics than his life story, Haynes delivers a song-cycle of a movie: vivid, exaggerated, contradictory impressions of a man who confounds a culture still looking to define him.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
One of the most inventive and joyous movies of the year.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Gates
Brilliantly strange, often funny and ultimately heartbreaking film.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
Among its many achievements, Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There hurls a Molotov cocktail through the facade of the Hollywood biopic factory.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A loopy, surreal, beguiling collage of a film, the writer-director's meta-biopic embraces its subject.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
Haynes's picture may not be perfect -- hell, I'm not even sure that perfection is a state it even aspires to -- but it's bold and individualistic and accomplished. A reason to take heart for the state of current American moviemaking.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
So what if nothing is revealed. Todd Haynes is a mischievous visionary who puts the music and the myth of Bob Dylan before us in I'm Not There and dares us not to revel in the troubadour's poetic, contentious, ever-changing essence. It's a feast for the eyes, the ears and the Dylanologist scratching around our minds and hearts.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What Haynes does is take away the reassuring segues that argue everything flows and makes sense, and to show what's really chaos under the skin of the film.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
An ingenious, maddening film inspired by the "many lives of Bob Dylan."
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
A challenging film, one that I suspect can only benefit from multiple viewings. The success of its approaches varies, but its intent is unfailingly interesting.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
A fascinating experiment that, if the viewer is willing to surrender to Haynes's sometimes hermetic meditations on Dylan's life, heartily rewards the investment.
Read Full Review >Empire Staff (Not credited)
An extraordinary attempt to encapsulate the many faces of Bob Dylan that plays better to the convert than the sceptic. Like the nasal twang of the man in question, the film finally beguiles more than it irritates.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
There’s an undeniable thrill to watching something so experimental and yet totally accessible to those of us who speak only layman’s Dylanese, and it’s Haynes’ warmest film yet.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
I appreciate Haynes’ craft and ambition. I love the Ledger/Gainsbourg scenes, which are sweet and sad and delicately shaded. And Blanchett’s inspired not-quite-impersonation of Dylan is reason enough to tussle with the rest of it.
Read Full Review >New York Post Staff (Not credited)
Bob Dylan would probably love I'm Not There, which may be all a Dylanist needs to know before seeing it. Non-devotees are in for puzzlement, if not exasperation.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
In the end it remains an academic exercise, though a dazzlingly ambitious one that’s well worth seeing.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Even with new information provided in the film, however, his personality remains not so much elusive as cantankerous, particularly in contrast with the expansiveness of his songs. That gap gives I'm Not There something of a hollow centre.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
What emerges is a speculative, critical essay about the 60s, weighted down in spots by political correctness and a conflicted desire to mock Dylan's denseness while catering to his hardcore fans, but otherwise lively, fluid, and watchable.
Read Full Review >Slate Dana Stevens
Like the singer's gnomic comments to the press, the movie can be maddeningly slippery; like his music, it's fierce, thrilling, and unapologetically itself.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett
The star of the show is undoubtedly Blanchett, who has great fun playing Dylan as a showboat who quite knowingly goes about creating his reputation for rebellious independence.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Only devout Dylan fans will be able to derive much sense out of it. Dylan novices can only sit back and surrender to the ride Haynes offers: It's a strange, surreal trip.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Some of it is brilliant, some is tedious and some is just plain incoherent.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
If any man should be more than the sum of his parts, it's an artist. But Todd Haynes' I'm Not There makes Bob Dylan less than the sum of his parts. It's like a tony art-school parlor game.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Stylistically audacious in the way it employs six different actors and assorted visual styles to depict various aspects of the troubadour's life and career, the film nevertheless lacks a narrative and a center, much like the "ghost" at its core.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
It's not nearly as enjoyable as one of his rambling, meditative songs, though perhaps it is aspiring to be the cinematic equivalent. Give me "Tangled Up in Blue" any day over this incoherent, tangled trip.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Too often, it’s the MOVIE that isn’t there. What’s meant to be archetypal comes across as superficial.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker Anthony Lane
It makes “Yellow Submarine” look like a miracle of sober narrative.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
It doesn't work. It is just a mess -- though the sound track, full of Dylan songs is, of course, good to hear. But it is not better than the track on Martin Scorsese's "No Direction Home" documentary of two years ago.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Anyone can make a bad movie, but it takes a good filmmaker to make one as bad as I'm Not There.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 77 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Citoyen K gave it a9:
Classic, you need a firm grip of history and bob dylan to get the most out of it.
Mark S gave it an8:
Rather than using standard narrative, this movie tries to capture the essence of Dylan through a series of arresting images, sometimes without an obvious connection --- rather like a Dylan song. However, if you don't know anything about Dylan, this film will frustrate you.
Nicholas K gave it a10:
A Stunning example of Arthouse film, and while a lot of people understandably will not understand it (Arthouse is aimed at a niche audience). The acting is wonderful and the cinematography is beautifully mastered. A must see for art house lovers and the open minded, but if you're not an art house fan or are a piece of "Hollywood brainwashing" then this is not for you.
johnny2cents gave it a2:
Heartbreaking.. I know Haynes was trying to capture the enigma that Dylan is and has been but good grief what was he thinking?? Watching Masked and Anonymous wasn't great but at least it was watchable and sometimes funny. I only hope that someone someday does capture the greatest 20th century songwriter’s story with due respect.
Ardie O. gave it a6:
During the film, I was lost.I was a bit puzzled because of the odd technique, yet by the end of the movie I had a sense of satisfaction. Not the best movie I have seen but definitely engaging.
John W. gave it a1:
One of the first movies where I have fallen asleep in my entire life. It was the biggest load of rubbish I have ever seen. Just to be clear, I love music and the only scene that was on the entire movie that was worth something was (hence the score of 1) was where the 3 dudes sit on the porch and play the song with their guitars. That was decent and sounded great. The rest. Drivel. Sorry.
tbi gave it a2:
This movie seemed to be long winded , boring, and confusing. I feel like the people who might seek this movie out, may not have the attention span to even follow it, or maybe zone in and out of it. Too bad.
