---
title: "I'm Not There"
year: 2007
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/im-not-there"
fi1m_id: "im-not-there"
imdb_id: "tt0368794"
tmdb_id: 3902
wikidata_id: "Q816772"
fi1m_score: 74
critics_score: 69
critics_reviews: 13
published: "2026-10-01T19:47:24.377972+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-01T19:47:24.948884+00:00"
region: "BR"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# I'm Not There (2007)

Directed by Todd Haynes · 2h 15m · Drama, Music

## Identity

I'm Not There

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/im-not-there
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** im-not-there
- **IMDb ID:** tt0368794
- **TMDB ID:** 3902
- **Wikidata ID:** Q816772
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368794/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/3902, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q816772

**Fi1m score: 74** · Critics 69 from 13 reviews

*In a sentence:* Six actors share one Bob Dylan and the one you believe is Cate Blanchett

> Todd Haynes refuses to make a biopic and makes six short films instead, one for each man Bob Dylan pretended to be. Two are good enough to carry the evening on their own; the Western is not one of them.

## Synopsis

Bob Dylan is never named on screen. Todd Haynes splits him into six people and six stories. Woody (Marcus Carl Franklin), a boy with a guitar case stencilled ‘This Machine Kills Fascists’, rides a boxcar across America telling tall tales about where he has been. Jack (Christian Bale) sings protest songs in Greenwich Village and tires of the people who want more of them. Jude (Cate Blanchett) arrives in London with an electric band and is treated by the press as a traitor to folk music. Robbie (Heath Ledger), an actor who has played Jack in a film, begins a marriage with Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Arthur (Ben Whishaw) answers an interrogator in riddles. Billy (Richard Gere) wakes in a town called Riddle. The stories cut between one another, and none finishes before the next begins.

## Review

Todd Haynes has made a film about Bob Dylan in which nobody on screen is called Bob Dylan. Six actors, one of them a woman and one a boy, take turns at being him, each under a different name and in a different kind of film. For about two-thirds of its 135 minutes it is better than a stunt: a picture that treats a famous life the way its subject treated his own, as something to rearrange the moment the audience got comfortable. The other third is a Western set in a town called Riddle, and we would have cut most of it.

Cate Blanchett’s Jude is the reason to see it. This is the Dylan of the electric tour, nest of black hair, dark glasses, cigarette, and Blanchett gets the walk and the mumble and the pleasure he took in refusing to be understood. Her best scenes are with Bruce Greenwood as Keenan Jones, a television journalist who keeps asking what the songs mean and keeps being told he is the wrong man to ask. Edward Lachman shoots this strand in grainy black and white, with Allen Ginsberg (David Cross) arriving in a golf cart and Michelle Williams’s Coco Rivington drifting through parties in large white rooms. About an hour in, watching Blanchett slumped in the back of a car, bored by people who had crossed a city to adore her, we realised we had stopped seeing an actress and were watching the man. It unsettled us more than we expected, since the film’s title insists he is not there.

Marcus Carl Franklin plays Woody, a boy riding a boxcar with a guitar case stencilled ‘This Machine Kills Fascists’, trading verses on a porch with Richie Havens’s Old Man Arvin; the joke that he has invented his whole history is made once and let go. Christian Bale’s Jack is a Greenwich Village folk singer shot like a television documentary, with Julianne Moore’s Alice Fabian remembering him years later with a fondness gone slightly stale. Ben Whishaw’s Arthur, interrogated at a table, is the film’s footnotes. Heath Ledger’s Robbie is an actor who played Jack in a biopic, and his marriage to Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is the one place where somebody wants something you could put a name to. Gainsbourg is the second best thing in the film.

Each strand has its own look and Lachman does the work: faded hand-held colour for Jack, the soft light of a 1970s French picture for Robbie and Claire, autumn browns and long lenses for Billy. Judy Becker builds Riddle as a town at a permanent Halloween, townsfolk in masks and a giraffe in the street. John Dunn’s costumes do much of the characterisation, Jude’s narrow suit, Woody’s jacket two sizes too big. Jay Rabinowitz cuts across the strands in mid-sentence, so a question asked in one is answered in another. It is exhilarating for an hour and a habit after that.

Richard Gere plays Billy, an outlaw grown old under another name in a town that a lawman called Garrett (Bruce Greenwood again) means to put a highway through. Gere plays him slow and grave, but the strand has the dust and horses of a Western and none of the pressure. Every time the film cut to Riddle it sagged, and by the fourth or fifth visit we were bored, and then irritated at being bored by something so carefully made. The other weakness is the dialogue, much of it lifted from Dylan’s songs and interviews and spoken as conversation. In Arthur’s mouth it is funny. Elsewhere people talk in epigrams and wait for us to recognise them.

[*Velvet Goldmine*](https://film.one/film/velvet-goldmine) (1998) was a glam rock film with Bowie’s name taken off; [*Far from Heaven*](https://film.one/film/far-from-heaven) (2002) remade a 1950s melodrama with the subtext brought to the front. This is the one where Haynes’s method and his subject fit, because Dylan spent his career telling interviewers stories about himself that were not true. The film does not explain him, and it takes its title from one of his own unreleased recordings to say so.

So the question is how much of the records you carry with you. If you know them, this is 135 minutes of pleasure with a slow patch in the saddle. If you do not, it will be a parade of handsome strangers quoting someone you have never met, and the film has no intention of making the introduction.

*Fi1m score 74, published 1 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics come down in favour, though few without reservation. The praise gathers almost entirely around Cate Blanchett, whose turn as the electric-era Dylan is singled out in nearly every review, by admirers and dissenters alike, as the part that holds the film together. Beyond her, the reviews credit Todd Haynes’s nerve in breaking the biopic into pieces, Ed Lachman’s cinematography across the shifting styles, and the music itself as what makes the demanding approach worth sitting through. Heath Ledger and Charlotte Gainsbourg also draw mentions.

The spread is wide, running from full marks at Time Out to a near-dismissal at Eye for Film. The reservations cluster in two places: that the fragmentation tips into incoherence, and that the film leaves the viewer no closer to Dylan than before. Slant Magazine calls it elaborate but hollow; Variety and Total Film both find the Richard Gere western stretch the weakest. The dissenters are broadly those who wanted a portrait; the admirers accept that this was never the plan.

## Straight answers

**Is I'm Not There worth watching?**

*I'm Not There* is worth watching if you know Bob Dylan's records, and we scored it 74. Cate Blanchett's strand as the electric-era Dylan would carry the evening on its own, and Charlotte Gainsbourg is the second best thing in it. The Richard Gere Western in a town called Riddle sags every time the film cuts to it, and a viewer who has never heard the songs will find 135 minutes of strangers quoting a man they have not met.

**How long is I'm Not There, and what is it rated?**

*I'm Not There* runs 2h 15m. It is a drama and music film.

**Where can I watch I'm Not There in Brazil?**

*I'm Not There* is not on any streaming or rental service in Brazil at the moment. It is available in 13 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is I'm Not There, and is it suitable for children?**

*I'm Not There* has no UK certificate on record and carries an R in the United States, so expect adult material rather than a family film. Nothing in it is frightening; the nearest thing to menace is a lawman planning a highway through an old outlaw's town. Children would be baffled long before they were upset, since the whole film assumes you already know who Bob Dylan is.

**How does I'm Not There compare to 8½?**

*I'm Not There* borrows its look from [*8½*](https://film.one/film/812), and Fellini's is the better film. Both are about an artist who has nothing to say to the people asking what his work means, and Haynes shoots Cate Blanchett's London strand in the same grainy black and white, with the same parties in large white rooms. Fellini's is tighter and funnier and we would send a stranger to it; Haynes's is for people who arrive already carrying the records.

**What should I watch after I'm Not There?**

After *I'm Not There*, try [*8½*](https://film.one/film/812) (1963, Fi1m 91): Fellini’s artist with nothing to say to the press; Haynes borrowed the whole look. Then [*Velvet Goldmine*](https://film.one/film/velvet-goldmine) (1998, Fi1m 81): Haynes does the same trick with glam rock and a Bowie figure under another name; and [*Inside Llewyn Davis*](https://film.one/film/inside-llewyn-davis) (2013, Fi1m 87): The Coens on the Greenwich Village folk scene Jack walks into, a week before Dylan arrives.

### Reviews we read (13)

- **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (5/5): Calhoun gives the film a strong endorsement despite its unconventional approach. He singles out its rule-breaking, fragmented take on Bob Dylan’s life. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/im-not-there)
- **IndieWire**, Chris Wisniewski (90/100, inferred): Wisniewski calls the film an invigorating, thrilling achievement, despite finding parts too tidy or diffuse. He praises its craftsmanship, especially the performances by Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Heath Ledger. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-an-american-tale-todd-haynes-im-not-there-73491/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (3.5/4): Ebert gives the film a positive verdict. He singles out Cate Blanchett’s performance as a standout. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/im-not-there-2007)
- **The AV Club**, Keith Phipps (B+): Phipps finds the film thrillingly brilliant despite maddening choices and uneven sequences. He particularly praises Haynes’s daring filmmaking and Ed Lachman’s cinematography, while noting that some references and lyric-based dialogue fall flat. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/im-not-there-1798203436)
- **The Guardian**, Philip French (80/100, inferred): French finds the film mystifying but ultimately challenging and rewarding. He singles out its varied cinematic styles and the music as making its demanding approach worthwhile. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/dec/23/features.review3)
- **Total Film**, Total Film (4/5): The review calls the film ambitious, successful, and reverential, though it loses momentum in its final stretch. It praises the ensemble’s varied portrayals, especially Cate Blanchett’s performance, while finding Richard Gere’s segment the least convincing. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/im-not-there-review/)
- **Empire**, William Thomas (70/100, inferred): Thomas finds the film restless and brilliant, ultimately more beguiling than irritating. He particularly praises Cate Blanchett’s uncanny portrayal of Dylan’s electric years. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/m-2-review/)
- **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (65/100, inferred): The supplied page does not expose the critic’s verdict. It also provides no praise or complaint to summarize. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/movies/21ther.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Ray Bennett (55/100, inferred): Bennett finds the film an intriguing but potentially alienating curiosity that may leave viewers no closer to understanding Dylan. He praises Haynes’s direction and cast, especially Cate Blanchett’s playful performance. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/im-not-159390/)
- **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (40/100, inferred): McCarthy finds the film audacious and intermittently compelling, but ultimately fractured and inaccessible. He especially praises Cate Blanchett’s electrifying performance as Jude, while faulting the prolonged Western section for adding little. [Read](https://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/i-m-not-there-3-1200556650/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Nick Schager (1.5/4): Schager finds the film an intellectually elaborate but hollow portrait that reveals little about Dylan. He praises occasional wit and structural flair, while criticizing its detached drama and reliance on allusions. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/im-not-there/)
- **Paste**, Steve Dollar (75/100, inferred): The review finds the film’s playful, shape-shifting approach inventive, though its separate storylines can feel uneven. It singles out Cate Blanchett’s performance as a highlight that propels the film. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/article/im-not-there)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (25/100, inferred): Wilkinson finds the film an incoherent, overly obscure exercise in style rather than an insightful portrait of Dylan. She praises the cinematography and especially Cate Blanchett’s performance, but says they cannot make up for the muddled narrative. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/im-not-there-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)

## Details

- **Director:** Todd Haynes
- **Director:** Todd Haynes
- **Screenplay:** Todd Haynes, Oren Moverman
- **Story:** Todd Haynes
- **Cinematography:** Edward Lachman
- **Editor:** Jay Rabinowitz
- **Production design:** Judy Becker
- **Costume design:** John Dunn
- **Producer:** Christine Vachon, James D. Stern, John Sloss
- **Cast:** Christian Bale as Jack / Pastor John; Cate Blanchett as Jude; Marcus Carl Franklin as Woody / Chaplin Boy; Richard Gere as Billy; Heath Ledger as Robbie; Ben Whishaw as Arthur; Charlotte Gainsbourg as Claire; David Cross as Allen Ginsberg
- **Runtime:** 2h 15m
- **First release (Italy):** 3 September 2007
- **Genres:** Drama, Music
- **Budget:** $20 million
- **Box office:** $4 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abVh39ZmUag

## Where to watch in Brazil

Not streaming, renting or buying in Brazil at the last check.

Also available in: AT, AU, CA, DE, DK, ES, FR, GB, IE, IT, NO, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2008: Best Supporting Actress (nominated)
- Grand Jury Prize of the Venice Film Festival 2007: Grand Jury Prize of the Venice Film Festival (won)

## If you liked this

- *Dont Look Back* (1967): Pennebaker follows the real article round England in 1965, and he is exactly this evasive.
- *8½* (1963), Fi1m 91: Fellini’s artist with nothing to say to the press; Haynes borrowed the whole look. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/812.md)
- *Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid* (1973): Peckinpah’s Western with Dylan himself in a small part and all over the soundtrack.
- *Velvet Goldmine* (1998), Fi1m 81: Haynes does the same trick with glam rock and a Bowie figure under another name. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/velvet-goldmine.md)
- *Inside Llewyn Davis* (2013), Fi1m 87: The Coens on the Greenwich Village folk scene Jack walks into, a week before Dylan arrives. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/inside-llewyn-davis.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/im-not-there