DVD Review: I'm Not There

Rich Heldenfels - Akron Beacon Journal

May 06, 2008

From time to time I mention titles that seem better suited for DVD viewing than watching in a theater. "I'm Not There" is unquestionably one of them.

"I'm Not There" (in stores Tuesday in a two-disc collector's edition, $29.99) is an attempt to solve the puzzle of Bob Dylan by treating him as six distinctly different people, played by Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Marcus Carl Franklin and Ben Whishaw.

The movie had immensely entertaining parts, especially for Dylan obsessives. (I have a relatively mild case of that, but was still relishing things like visual homages to Dylan album covers.) But in the theater, the game proved wearing, as it dragged on for 2 hours, 15 minutes.

On DVD, there's a chance to study the different sections more closely, to ponder the individual characters and riffs. And the big-screen pleasures -- such as Blanchett's dazzling, shoulda-won-the-Oscar performance -- are undiminished.

The DVD is well stocked with extras, too. There's a commentary by director Todd Haynes, and a nice feature that posts the text of the lyrics of Dylan songs being performed on the soundtrack. The second disc has a small number of deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel and several text elements, including a breakdown of which period each movie Dylan represents.

Also included is a brief, touching tribute to Ledger, who died in January. It has footage from the making of I'm Not There with a frequently smiling Ledger -- a real contrast to the image of him since his death -- set to Dylan's Tomorrow Is a Long Time.

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