What the filmmakers are trying to do here, it seems, is rewrite the entire genre of the biopic, in part because a linear, realistic biopic along the lines of Walk the Line simply wouldn't be appropriate for Dylan. They question the traditional chronological sequence employed by the genre, as well as its emphasis on factual, "significant" events. Why, they ask, can't dreams, archetypes, states of mind, and creative products be granted the same importance as births, marriages, and deaths, or, here, concerts, parties, and motorcycle accidents?

More unsettling, perhaps, is the filmmakers' refusal to find any kind of moral or meaning in Dylan's life. Dylan, as one of the six sub-Dylans suggests, was a riddle, and to answer the riddle would be to divest it of its aura. Therefore, we should enjoy it for what it is, and leave it at that. The characters in the film who try to get to the bottom of Dylan, like the geeky fan who presents him with an overwrought interpretation of his lyrics, or the interviewer who asks what he "cares" about, are made to look ridiculous, and faintly "square." Dylan mumbles something unintelligible and cryptic to them, and goes on his way. Et tu, viewer.

And, I suppose, to define Dylan (poet, activist, rebel, icon, fraud, etc.) would be to limit Dylan, just as having only one actor portray him would undercut his ability to assume various selves, blah blah postmoderncakes. Though this kind of speculation makes for an interesting intellectual exercise, the fact remains that I'm Not There is just not a very satisfying film. It's ponderous and baffling and seems a lot longer than its 138-minute running time. The film takes everything that's exasperating about Dylan and magnifies it, until it becomes difficult to see why anyone would consider the man an icon. He comes off as a stumbling, mumbling poetaster who rarely shows any sympathy or humor, and his musical genius is relegated to the score, where it gets lost behind the flood of images on screen.

I should note, though, that my fiancé, a Dylan buff, enjoyed the movie a lot more than I did. Knowing the major events of Dylan's life, he was able to appreciate the impressionistic presentation of them, and he liked the sly allusions to Dylan's songs that pervaded the film. He even likened the film to Dylan's work, claiming its surreal, imagistic quality captured the feel of such songs as "Desolation Row". So, if you're enough into Dylan that the fact that a peripheral character has a cat named Angelina means something to you, you'll probably find a lot to like about this movie. But, for most viewers, I'm Not There will seem like either a mildly-amusing filmic experiment or a stymieing bore.