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No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
MOVIE: PBS, Monday 9/26 at 9:00p (210 minutes)


9.8

based on 15 reviews
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based on 8 votes
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MUSIC:

BOOKS:

Official Show Site

Starring Bob Dylan

Martin Scorsese directed this 3 1/2-hour documentary (part of PBS' "American Masters" series) about the legendary singer-songwriter's first 25 years of life, with the bulk concentrating on the first five years of his career, from 1961-1966.

GENRE(S):	Documentary, Music
FIRST AIR DATE:	September 26, 2005
ALSO ON:	9/27/2005
# OF DISCS:	2

The DVD release contains an extra 45 minutes of footage not seen on TV.

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...

100

Baltimore Sun David Zurawik

No Direction Home is not just another two nights in front of the tube. Even by the standards of PBS' American Masters -- the medium's finest biography series ever -- Scorsese's film is 3 1/2 hours of breathing air so rarefied compared to most television that it feels as if one is inhaling helium.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Creates a portrait that is deep, sympathetic, perceptive and yet finally leaves Dylan shrouded in mystery, which is where he properly lives.

100

New York Daily News David Hinckley

"No Direction Home" is so thoroughly captivating, with so much rare and new material - fresh interviews, as well as vintage film and TV footage - that it's frustrating that the focus is so narrow.

100

People Weekly Tom Gliatto

Scorsese crams in great performance scenes and interviews (Joan Baez is especially articulate, and acerbic) and one goose-bump moment: a montage of Kennedy-era footage as Dylan sings 1963's "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," an anthem of disaster with the power to evoke atomic war, Katrina, everything. [3 Oct 2005, p.39]

100

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm

Surpasses Scorsese's The Last Waltz as a masterpiece musical documentary.

100

Variety Phil Gallo

Scorsese has created a document that will satiate Dylan fans over repeated viewings and should bring naysayers into the Dylan fold.

Entertainment Weekly David Browne

You wish Scorsese hadn't stopped at 1966.... But the director's take on his subject (pop culture's first martyr, burnt out at 25) is valid and powerful. [30 Sep 2005, p.76]

Hollywood Reporter Glenn Abel

It's easy and satisfying to buy into Scorsese's view of Dylan as underdog. The slant and subjectivity give "No Direction Home" much of its drama and depth, especially in the final hour.

Los Angeles Times Richard Cromelin

The achievement of "No Direction Home" is that it humanizes the enigma without demystifying the artist, and it gives us a person to care about.

Miami Herald Glenn Garvin

The result is a testament to Scorsese's considerable story-telling skills. With no narration at all, No Direction Home is an intricate yet seamless account of an elusive subject whose own friends call him a shape-shifter.

Newsday Diane Werts

While "No Direction Home" can't turn the American Mastery trick of telling us what makes a cultural titan tick, it probably gets deeper inside the Dylan mystery than any such portrait is likely to.

Orlando Sentinel Jim Abbott

Perhaps the most revealing look yet at an American pop-culture icon who has been mythologized, demonized and analyzed, all without help from the man himself.

PopMatters John G. Nettles

A powerful portrait, if not groundbreaking.

Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz

Fans of Bob Dylan and others ambitious enough to sit through "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" will discover early on that it yields no revelatory light to speak of on its subject

New York Magazine John Leonard

The odd thing is that Scorsese closes up shop, after 210 minutes, in 1966--as if the motorcycle accident had killed instead of merely injured Dylan.

The average user rating for this tv show is 9.8 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Darren P gave it a10:
great film i am only 14 and me and my dad loved it!! well done bob

hostile gave it a10:
What more could you possible want? A masterpiece and should be shown at least once a week in every highschool and projected on a big screen in the town square.

Steven L gave it a10:
I loved this documentary like a fat man loves candy.

Count Zr0 gave it a9:
Scorcese is a genius.

joey b gave it a10:
this movie is awesome. it has its flaws (it's too long) but if you get through it, it's well worth it.

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No Direction Home: Bob Dylan MOVIE: PBS, Monday 9/26 at 9:00p (210 minutes)

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan
MOVIE: PBS, Monday 9/26 at 9:00p (210 minutes)