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| I'm Not There (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Todd Haynes
Actors: Christian Bale, David Cross, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Richard Gere, Bruce Greenwood
Studio: Weinstein Company
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $8.34
You Save: $21.65 (72%)
New (57) Used (31) from $7.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  101 reviews
Sales Rank: 1363
Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 135
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: WEID81090D
UPC: 796019810906
EAN: 0796019810906
ASIN: B0013D8L7C
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** ** Over 1.5 million orders shipped worldwide and more than 500 000 items in stock, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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| Customer Reviews:
 Not Impressed November 4, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
My wife and I sat down with our 3 newest Netflix packages, and decided to watch this one second (after George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, another movie you should miss).
Now, I've had my fair share of post-modernism by now. What college student studying during the past 20 years hasn't? But this was not post-modern, or chic, or creative in any way (besides Blanchett, more on that in a minute); nay, it was merely one non-sequitur after another.
Random vignettes with little to no purpose are strung together to form a movie that feels about as long as an extended version of Lord of the Rings. The point is to portray Bob Dylan's life. Or to speculate how giraffes were involved. Or something like that. You never know, because the movie feels like a giant inside joke.
Several actors portray what they think Dylan at a particular point in his life, such as Richard Gere, who plays Dylan when he was J.D. Salinger, living in the woods and attending town hall meetings. None of these are compelling, and only one is convincing, that being Cate Blanchett's performance as a jaded Bob Dylan being interviewed by the Beeb. She does a great job playing a man, and her performance was the only really memorable moment in the show: at one point, she meets up with Ginsberg and they stand under a crucified Jesus. Cate Dylan yells, "I liked your older stuff more!", or something to that effect. It's the only line I vaguely remember, because the rest of the dialog sounded like whining.
The movie would have been better served but cutting out everything but Cate, including the late Heath Ledger and the black kid who was apparently a blues singer but also was Bob Dylan when he was hopping trains and putting his guitar in the floorboards. The movie would have been 30 minutes long, and probably would have been a masterpiece of modern short film making.
Now, I realize I don't "get it". Maybe I'm not old enough to take part in this romanticized baby-boomer fantasy, but I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. Ever.
We put it back in the mail as soon as the credits ran.
 Interesting, but too long... November 15, 2008
Todd Haynes has proven his talent, and this idea of his was certainly profound and maybe a little TOO complete. At 2 hours, it gets a little tired. Casting the 6 different characters as the various incarnations of some un-named singer was interesting. Cate Blanchett won all the recognition, but Carl Marcus Franklin deserved every bit as much. (The Indie awards nominated him). Christian Bale was exellent, too, and Heath Ledger never looked better, equally as good. And Richard Gere has always been under-rated: he added a lot. Fine female support from Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams were also welcome. My main problem was that the film was so bleak, almost a eulogy, about an enigmatic character who is very much alive. I wasn't able to watch the second disc, but I'd be interested to know Mr. Dylan's take on his imagined life. In the hands of the gifted Todd Haynes, there is definitely drive and commitment; I was simply a little annoyed after the first 1 hours of the repetitive aura of sadness that prevailed throughout. I'm glad to have seen what the fuss was all about, but I'll likely not want to see it again. Regardless, Mr. Haynes has again shown his maverick side to present a film that is certainly laced with love and sincerity.
 This movie will endure November 16, 2008
I am not even a big bob dylan fan, but this film is so well told and creative that it's the best I think of the year 2007 - understood it's non linear and a bit confusing but perfect for those times (and maybe these).
 Another excellent film from Todd Haynes December 1, 2008
I knew nothing about Bob Dylan going in to this film. I don't particularly like the songs of Bob Dylan, save for a few of them. However, this film has encouraged me to explore more of his music, and I even did a little research after the film ended. This film basically explores Bob Dylan at different phases of his life, with a different actor for each segment, including Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, and Cate Blanchett. Yes, you read that correctly, and she is magnificent!
There is a dream-like, poetic quality to this film that I thought was incredibly effective, and the direction is amazing. It is also very symbolic. There were things in the film that I didn't quite grasp upon my first viewing, probably because I don't have a vast knowledge of the work of it's subject. I plan on watching this film several more times, because I'll learn something new every time I see it.
If you haven't seen it, or even if you're not a fan of Dylan, check it out. It's pretty amazing, and I loved it.
 "You may call me anything but no matter what you say... " December 23, 2008
I am a fan of Bob Dylan's talent. I admire him as a singer-songwriter, musician who plays several instruments, and especially as a poet. I understand very well that Dylan is not Luciano Pavarotti, Robert Plant, Freddie Mercury or Ian Gillan but his rough, nasal and far from perfect singing voice speaks to me clearly. For five decades he's been a major figure in popular music and the number of his admirers has only increases as time goes by. It is not surprising that the figure of such complexity, influence and enigma would attract journalists, writers, and film directors who would try to understand and explain phenomenon of Bob Dylan. When I learned about Todd Haynes' films about Bob Dylan where different aspects of his personality during different times of his life, represented by the different performers, I became a little suspicious. The whole idea sounded a bit pretentious even if I respected what Hayens was trying to achieve. Sadly, his approach did not work for me.
The movie is all over the place and it jumps from past to present and around the world with the grace and elegance of a behemoth. 6 actors of different ages, genders and races play the different Bob Dylan's personalities. I have no problems with many actors playing one person but the problem is - Hayens in his latest film is not Federico Fellini or Luis Bunuel who had made a movie with two actresses playing one character. Bunuel's last film was funny, mysterious, and interesting because Bunuel did not make a big deal of it, and because of his incomparable sense of humor. Having six actors playing one character makes the movie crowded, claustrophobic, and over-complicated with no particular reason and with "no direction home". Besides, of six actors, not all are equally good and it is not perhaps even their fault. Try to create depth of the character, for instance, in Richard Gere's part as a Billy the Kid outlaw figure - I could not help laughing out loud every time Gere was on screen and I love the actor dearly. One of the ominous signs for me that the movie is bad is an urge to laugh in the wrong places. Or take another Dylan's incarnation by the name Arthur Rimbaud - you either know who Arthur Rimbaud was and you laugh at the parallel Haynes tries to draw here or you don't, and it would make no sense to you why the French poet-Rebel of 19th Century was brought to life to enlighten us with the pieces of wisdom like: "I accept chaos. I don't know whether it accepts me "or "Y'know, it's nature's will. And I'm against nature. I'm not cool with nature" among others.
I understand that "I am not there" was the loving tribute and the attempt to understand one of the most complex, enigmatic, controversial, and influential figure in the modern culture but quoting Dylan himself,
"You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy, You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy, You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray, You may call me anything but no matter what you say... ", Mr. Haynes, sorry, but it did not work as the whole.
You should have made the movie with one Bob Dylan - like figure and it should have been Cate Blanchett. She is way above all five male performers combined together, and her Jude Quinn simply blew away all other personalities from the screen. If ever the dis joined overwrought overcrowded incoherent self-indulgent and confusing with no redeeming cause movie did reach a high point, it was with Blanchett on screen. She keeps proving with her every role that she is truly one of the best (for me THE best actress of her generation - courageous, always ready to take on the challenge, convincing, compelling, beautiful talented Cate Blanchett.
2/5 - all points go to Cate Blanchett
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