Overview
A cinematic exploration of identity and transformation through the lens of a musical icon.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- enigmatic
- restless
- music film night
- arthouse viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's unique editing, inventive visuals, daring structure, and talented performers, while finding it deliberately unconventional and less accessible to general audiences.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Six performers and characters, including Jude, Woody, Billy, Robbie, Jack, and Arthur, embody different facets of Bob Dylan.
The film freely combines Dylan's music, public history, fictional episodes, interviews, and symbolic incarnations.
Several sections recreate 1960s documentaries in black and white, especially around Jude's public persona.
Each incarnation reaches a crossroads as the artist becomes someone else and resists classification.
Films like I'm Not There, and why
Control
experimental musical biography, fragmented identity, and unconventional portrait of a celebrated artist
Velvet Goldmine
stylized musician biopic with nonlinear identity, performance mythology, and strong visual authorship
The Doors
ambiguous, formally inventive musical biography centered on an elusive public persona
The Last Waltz
poetic American music drama combining folk mythology, identity shifts, and historical reconstruction
Movie Details
- Director
- Todd Haynes
- Release Date
- 2007-10-01
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (802)
Cast
- Christian Bale
- Cate Blanchett
- Marcus Carl Franklin
- Richard Gere
- Heath Ledger
- Ben Whishaw
- Charlotte Gainsbourg
- David Cross
- Bruce Greenwood
- Julianne Moore
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Starz Apple TV channel, Howdy Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is I'm Not There about?
- Todd Haynes fractures Bob Dylan into six performers and poetic alter egos to explore artistic reinvention, fame, and the impossibility of a definitive biography.
- What is I'm Not There like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of I'm Not There as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.
- Is I'm Not There violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in I'm Not There as mild.
- What did critics think of I'm Not There?
- Critics broadly praised the film's unique editing, inventive visuals, daring structure, and talented performers, while finding it deliberately unconventional and less accessible to general audiences.
- Which films are like I'm Not There?
- Films with a similar feel include Control, Velvet Goldmine, The Doors, and The Last Waltz.
- How long is I'm Not There?
- I'm Not There runs 135 minutes.
- Where can I watch I'm Not There?
- In United States, I'm Not There streams on Starz Apple TV channel, Howdy Amazon Channel.
