I'm Not There (R) Grade: B+

Like the legendary musician himself, Todd Haynes' new Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" is hard to label. Instead of taking the tired, paint-by-numbers plot of rising star to drug addict to eventual Hall of Famer seen in movies such as "Ray," "Walk the Line" and many others before them, Haynes' experimental film casts six different actors in different segments representing different stages of Dylan's life. The name Bob Dylan, however, is never used. \nAmong them, newcomer Marcus Carl Franklin starts the film as an on-the-run, boxcar-riding, black child musician. Christian Bale's character Jack, a rising young folk musician in the early '60s, is unraveled in a fake-documentary style segment. The final segment finds Richard Gere as an elderly man hibernating in a twisted, storybook, Fellini-esque mountain town. And the most obvious Dylan portrayal of a renegade rock star messing with the British press comes from ... Cate Blanchett?\nIt's great to see such a nontraditional twist on the old biopic, and when the film soars, it's great. But it occasionally falls flat. During the less evident portrayals of Dylan, those who aren't die-hard Dylan experts (don't worry, that would be me too) might be a little confused about what exactly is happening and how it relates to Dylan. A little Wikipedia search after watching the film, however, helps fill in the gaps. \nMuch of the film is wisely shot in black and white, heightening the surreal effect of the swinging-'60s pop culture that included Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick. The segments are edited together stylishly, and cinematographer Edward Lachman's camera work consists of wonderfully dizzying pans and overhead shots. \nThere are many clever images throughout the film, such as The Beatles appearing in full-on "A Hard Day's Night"-style screaming-fan mode. To demonstrate the disgust of many Dylan fans with his change to electric guitar, a team of gunmen show up on stage at a folk festival and shoots up the crowd. A couple of the visuals, such as a giant animated whale and Gere's carnival town, are overly bizarre for the sake of being bizarre.\nAll the actors in "I'm Not There" do a fine job, but Blanchett deserves the most praise. At first, her Dylan seems like a "Saturday Night Live"-style impression of Michael Jackson, but after just a few seconds ... Wow. Looking past her, well, being a woman, and seeing her don those famous black shades and frizzy hair, Blanchett transforms into Dylan complete with his crazy outbursts, flowing gestures and characteristic voice (hopefully her dialect coach got a big paycheck). I doubt the Academy will embrace the film, but she should be taking home statue No. 2. Blanchett's Dylan is the closest to a standard biopic characterization, and it's so strong that it almost makes you wish Haynes had just shot the whole film with her.