I'm Not There
Second in the realm of Heath reviews. Enjoy.
It's just like the DVD case says: Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Billy Whishaw, Christian Bale, and Marcus Carl Franklin are Bob Dylan. That is to say, the rocker, the womanizer, the [ridiculously old] outlaw, the rebel, the folksinger, and... well, the black kid. This many and varied cast covers all of Dylan's facets and then some, and Blanchett was nominated for an Academy Award in the process. This film is artsy and more than a little ridiculous, but if you can look past the artshow crap, it's truly spectacular. All the characters are connected, but they are of different eras; different motives. Many said that Bob Dylan was different people.. a different person for every walk and period of his life. Todd Haynes monopolizes on that statement and made it into "the best film of 2007" (Aren't they all?)
I'm going to zero in on Heath's role in the film, but know that I think this movie was brilliantly cast and I especially enjoyed Woody Guthrie (the black kid/Marcus Carl Franklin) and Jude Quinn (Cate Blanchett) and their respective storylines. Heath Ledger plays Robbie Clark, an up-and-coming actor to star in the film Grain of Sand, a movie along the same vein as Walk the Line but for folksinger Jack Rollins (Christian Bale). Robbie falls in love with a French painter and they have children and motorcycles and splendid fun. But just like every other man, he leaves; moves on. They play phone tag even as he courts his co-star and the more I see his latest work.. the more I see how dark Heath got before death. It's interesting how our internal clocks do that, isn't it?
His role is much more focused than the other characters in that performance and his image in the public-eye remains mostly glossed-over. Ledger plays on Bob Dylan's family life -- his abuse and neglect of wife and child. He's the perfect tortured soul and they even manage to make him look like Christian Bale in profile.
I loved this movie to itty-bitty pieces, but be up for watching it several times. As was pointed out to me, Cate Blachett puts a cigarette out twice in one scene, but other than that this acid-trip-inducing-film is beautiful and everything art-school-chic. If you're not up for some thought and interpretation, save it for another day.
Interesting fact: Heath was in the midst of filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, due to come out next year. Colin Farell, who was originally cast as Robbie Clark in this film will be playing Tony in Ledger's place.
It's just like the DVD case says: Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, Billy Whishaw, Christian Bale, and Marcus Carl Franklin are Bob Dylan. That is to say, the rocker, the womanizer, the [ridiculously old] outlaw, the rebel, the folksinger, and... well, the black kid. This many and varied cast covers all of Dylan's facets and then some, and Blanchett was nominated for an Academy Award in the process. This film is artsy and more than a little ridiculous, but if you can look past the artshow crap, it's truly spectacular. All the characters are connected, but they are of different eras; different motives. Many said that Bob Dylan was different people.. a different person for every walk and period of his life. Todd Haynes monopolizes on that statement and made it into "the best film of 2007" (Aren't they all?)
I'm going to zero in on Heath's role in the film, but know that I think this movie was brilliantly cast and I especially enjoyed Woody Guthrie (the black kid/Marcus Carl Franklin) and Jude Quinn (Cate Blanchett) and their respective storylines. Heath Ledger plays Robbie Clark, an up-and-coming actor to star in the film Grain of Sand, a movie along the same vein as Walk the Line but for folksinger Jack Rollins (Christian Bale). Robbie falls in love with a French painter and they have children and motorcycles and splendid fun. But just like every other man, he leaves; moves on. They play phone tag even as he courts his co-star and the more I see his latest work.. the more I see how dark Heath got before death. It's interesting how our internal clocks do that, isn't it?
His role is much more focused than the other characters in that performance and his image in the public-eye remains mostly glossed-over. Ledger plays on Bob Dylan's family life -- his abuse and neglect of wife and child. He's the perfect tortured soul and they even manage to make him look like Christian Bale in profile.
I loved this movie to itty-bitty pieces, but be up for watching it several times. As was pointed out to me, Cate Blachett puts a cigarette out twice in one scene, but other than that this acid-trip-inducing-film is beautiful and everything art-school-chic. If you're not up for some thought and interpretation, save it for another day.
Interesting fact: Heath was in the midst of filming of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, due to come out next year. Colin Farell, who was originally cast as Robbie Clark in this film will be playing Tony in Ledger's place.