Rating: 
Summary: Less Than Zero
Review: I'm a big Bob Dylan fan.
i watched about 20 mintues of this film and turned it off and filed it away.
it just plainly [is not good]!
Rating: 
Summary: You either get it or you don't
Review: When I saw this in a theater, the least baffling moment occured during a visit to the restroom. Leaving through the wrong door, I found myself outside with no way to reenter except through the lobby. Would I be stopped and asked to produce the ticket stub that I feared I had thrown away?I returned to the theater without incident, no questions asked. But I had questions of my own, notably what is the point of "Masked and Anonymous"? In retrospect, I suppose there is no easy answer. One can't explain "Masked and Anonymous" any more than one can explain "Visions of Johanna" or "Desolation Row," or dozens of other Dylan songs. It is what it is, and you either get it or you don't. I'm not sure I get it, but I can't say I didn't have fun trying. For die-hard Dylan fans, "Masked and Anonymous" should be worthwhile. For someone whose CD collection includes "Blood on the Tracks" and "Greatest Hits," but not "Self-Portrait" and "Knocked Out Loaded," this film may inspire more impatient head-scratching than enjoyment. Those who have followed Dylan's career through the main roads, as well as the back-alleys, may find "Masked and Anonymous" rewarding. Both should be pleased with the music. It's great to hear the brilliant "Blind Willie McTell" on the soundtrack, but best of all is the concert footage, including a terrific and all too brief version of "Dixie," and a pleasant take on "I'll Remember You," a track not available on the officially released soundtrack. As for the acting, John Goodman and Jeff Bridges give their all, while Dylan remains distant, as enigmatic as ever, a guest in his own film. The most amusing moment may be in the TV network's boardroom when we glimpse a schedule of programming that features shows with titles lifted from the Dylan songbook. "Masked and Anonymous" is for the Dylan faithful. Anyone looking for a typical night at the movies should beware.
Rating: 
Summary: Bob Dylan's autobiography in film form!!!
Review: I tried keeping an open mind when I watched this movie on dvd for the first time, it was hard since it was bashed by critics upon its release. However this is a great film!! What a rollercoaster of a ride, it is very surreal and you can't get everything with one sitting, it takes several and gets better with each viewing. Bob has been writing his autobiography that will be released soon, I think the thought of making a movie while writing it, because it is extremely autobiographical. You do have to be a BOBHEAD in order to pick up on it. The muscial numbers are easily worth the price alone. As for the dvd the picture and sound are very high quality. The extras include a fine 15 minute documentary on the making of the film and 6 deleted scenes and trailer. It also includes an informative audio commentary by director larry charles. Overall this dvd is highly recommended to everyone who is a Bob Dylan fan or those who want to see something different and interesting.
Rating: 
Summary: Dylan's Genius Obscured by the Literalism of Film
Review: Worth seeing for the performance shots of Dylan and his touring band, the medium has spoiled the richness of subtle obscurity-the very affinity that binds Dylan's fans to his art-that requires one to blend his/her own vision with Dylan's. I was left feeling that he was trying too hard with this one. Part of Dylan's mystique rests is the perception, illusory or not, that he has been doing what he does so well, and for so long, that it must come easy to him. Here again, the film betrays him. He's on tour. Go see him. There, the magic is alive and well!
Rating:
Summary: Simple Twist of Fate
Review: To see this movie is to somewhat see another side of the enigmatic and mysterious Bob Dylan. A Dylan who has put up with the harshness of critics for 40 years. A Dylan, who like his namesake Jack Fate in the movie, who has been never been forgotten and has many loyal friends, followers, and fans. A Dylan who, like Fate, is released from the man built prison but must struggle to be free from the walls that life has built up to keep him down, to hold back the waters of the floodgates of the thoughts in his mind.
Bob Dylan is a genius. And this movie helps to prove that. Too many movies nowadays try to push sex and violence to entertain forgetting that there are a few people whose intelligence is not turned on by a fast high speed car crash. This is a thinking man movie.
With an all star cast the plot line centers on John Goodman as a sleazy promoter(imagine that)named Uncle Sweetheart who is putting on a benefit concert to help support the poor people of an unnamed country which has been torn apart by corruption, wicked politics, rebel uprisings, and much violence.(Sounds like most countries today) Of course Sweetheart's main goal is to pay off his bad debts. Dylans character, Jack Fate, is freed from a prison to perform at the concert. Fate must deal with the sleaze that surrounds the benefit as well as wrestle with the demons of his past and reconcile with his father,the president of the country, who is on his deathbed. He must also deal with a hardcore drunken reporter whos last name is Friend but he is anything but. The questions he ask Fate are very well related to things Dylan has had to deal with throughout his career.
This movie features great acting, a well thought out story line if you get it, and excellent music as Dylan performs several updated versions of his great masterpieces live in the film with his band, the tightest back up band ever!
The movie shows Dylan as a natural at acting, makes several points that can ring home and that most anyone can relate to. This is a must for any Dylan fan and without giving away the ending, all I can say is it's a simple twist of fate!
Rating:
Summary: A Modern Morality Play
Review: A very pleasant surprise after Rinaldo and Clare and Hearts of Fire. It comes across like a classic. The plot seems modeled after "Everyman", the medieval morality play with Dylan playing "Everyman" and the other leads as the human foibles of greed, power, etc. Christian Slater is like Shakespeare's "gravedigger". There are poetry, puns, circus (Kilmer's animal tamer, Pope and Ghandi look-alikes). Great filming and performance footage. Very creative and unlike any movie I've seen. I need to see many times to fully appreciate.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliantly obscure, like a Dylan song
Review: Many professional critics, accustomed to lavishing praise on the latest Hollywood by-the-numbers spectacle, simply didn't *get* this film at all. It certainly helps to be a Bob Dylan fan, but I think it is intrinsically interesting, thoughtful and original on its own merits. Believe it or not, I picked up this movie at the video store without knowing much about it, and I didn't even realize the central character was Bob Dylan until he sang! (call me the Clueless Critic ). My point is, I had been enjoying the film up to that point, and continued to do so. As in other surrealistic movies (e.g. Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, movies by David Lynch or Jim Jarmusch), you have to accept that you aren't going to get a linear plot and open yourself to the experience. I found the satirical manner in which a war and revolution-stricken Third World nation was portrayed darkly hilarious. It is a hellish montage of every poor country on earth. The downtrodden people are, improbably, of all different races and religions. Dylan himself (who was criticized for his lack of acting) plays a stone-faced version of himself named Jack Fate. He has been hired to play a benefit for this unnamed country by a corrupt promoter (John Goodman). It would be almost pointless to try to describe the plot any further. What this film is really about is the bizarre imagery, dialogue and atmosphere (and, of course, music). Characters are constantly having conversations where truisms and conventional thinking are twisted into humorously wise Zenlike nonsense. Although Dylan apparently did not write or direct this film, he seemingly could have. Both promoters and reporters (in the guise of a pestering, gun-toting one played by Jeff Bridges) are portrayed as slimy predators. Although it is true that Dylan doesn't really act in this film, his total lack of expression adds something to the surreal effect. An actor who was trying too hard to appear funny or brilliant would have ruined it. Dylan sings several songs; there is also a surprisingly good rendition of his classic, "The Times they are a'Changin'" sung by a very young girl. This is obviously not a movie for everyone, but I found it more interesting and entertaining than any I've seen in quite a while.
Rating:
Summary: A CEREBRAL DRY HUMP FROM HIS BOB-NESS!!!
Review: Just finished watchin' yet another of BOB DYLAN's Oscar Caliber performances
(NOT!) Glad I waited for Home Video. OK, I's gets it. Life's a Stage. Life's a Carnival (note the
Circus-cum-"Rolling Thunder Review" like back drops on the set). Enough. Bob Dylan as JACK "Oooh Im so Cryptic, Im the people's Misunderstood
Freakin' Enigma" FATE as Martyr. Its actually funny that Someone shanghied a group of
Investors (this is how Independent Movies get made) out
of 4 or 5 Million "Zimmer-Yens" to lens this Incomprehensible Pile of
Steamin' Mudlark (a Pheasant like bird native to Minnesota) Turds. Whats even funnier is to read the reviews of the many "BOBHEADS"
who pretend they "Understand" this Mess. On one of the DVD extras
the director "quotes" Dylan as saying the reason for doing this
movie was the journey getting there, not the end result. I guess like traveling down Highway 61, stopping off in every Podunk/No Nothing town for dinner, only to find the exact same Crappy Conveniece store in every town with only a few Stale Candy Bars to eat.Man I's gots to have some nourishment, something SOLID along the way, sometimes. Not just Mars Bars and SOCIOPOLITICAL
ramblings by some philosophy major working the late nite shift. Yeah I get the "veiled" referances to Dylan's life. Angela
Bassett as the Black "Back up Singer" he had a affair with
and produced an illegitamate child (the little black girl
singing "times they are a changing"?) Fate/Dylan as Political
Commentator-Everyman Troubador. Was that John Goodman....or Albert
Grossman? Then there's the Car Crash; or was it a Motorcycle Crash? Hmmn. In all fairness, the musical numbers were Great -featuring
Dylan's real touring Band (including Charlie Sexton), the
soundtrack's score was good (Dylan classics sung in several foreign
languages). But that was only a 3rd the movie. I could almost forgive the plot if Dylan could act, or ACT
like he cared. He's a walkin' stiff through the movie. Most of the MANY
cameos seem like they're phonin' their lines in. Only John Goodman and Ed
Harris (In "Black-Face"...
dont' ask!) looked like they were enjoying themselves. This movie is about 30 years too late. If this would've been released in
1972 or 1973 when much more of the
world was more in-tune with what was going on politically, I couldve seen
this flick taken on a life of its own , especially with the College Age
Liberally minded folks who caught Medium Cool and Zabriskie Point and
talked at length about the symbolism and hidden meanings
in Goddard and Jodorowski movies. Dylan's music and his songs' messages are just as relavent today, however
the movie doesnt even approach the fact that it wants to land any message
itself. The movie is what it is, a cerebral Dry hump.
Rating:
Summary: Weird but extremely entertaining!
Review: Dylan, and his character Jack Fate, are just incredibly compelling. His Bobness is an extremely strange human being, as we all know by his music, but to see the man walk and talk and interact with other people (actors) is nothing short of surreal. The movie moves like a dream. It is by no means all neat and tidey.It requires you to suspend preconceptions and needs to be seen repeatedly (and even then its up in the air). And then there's the musical performances. Worth the price of the dvd alone. Dylan and His Band rock in a way here before unseen in any movie ever (period).
Rating:
Summary: Only the Film got Developed
Review: There shouldn't be a doubt in anyone's mind that Bob Dylan is an artist and, in my opinion, a great artist. He's been producing work for over 40 years, and much of it has imbedded itself in American, if not world culture. First and foremost, he's a brilliant lyricist and master of artistic revelation, he's also a composer of sorts, but his music has never been all that complex. When he received a songwriting award he mentioned that he didn't read music, and didn't plan to learn. He's certainly accomplished in folk, blues, gospel, and in the way those forms melt into rock and roll; and he's even got some cool jazz licks in his repertoire, but no one will ever mistake him for a "serious composer" though his heart, hand, ear, and mind are connected and he has the tools and collaborators he needs to get his musical vision out to the public. He's also written prose, though not that well; poetry, but outside his gift for song lyrics his poetry isn't very good; and screenplays, but no awards will be heading his way in that category; which brings us to, "Masked & Anonymous." I think Dylan has written a script that's a lot more coherent than some reviewers believe but it's not tight enough to be compelling, and it's not directed with the rhythm or consistency needed to lift it beyond a series of scenes, or to make it as interesting as any of Dylan's more surreal lyrics. I actually think the failure of "Masked & Anonymous," has more to do with direction than writing, and though I don't know how much of a hand Dylan had in that all indications are he and Larry Charles were close collaborators. For a Bob Dylan work that's probably as it should be, but for a script written by Dylan and directed by Charles the director should have had a firmer hand. Someone has written that the performances were as cartoonish as they needed to be, but they weren't cartoonish, they were just bad. Bad as in "undirected." The movie seems to have been directed in the same way a Dylan album is produced, only less skillfully as Dylan is not an accomplished cinema artist in the way he's an accomplished musician.
"Masked & Anonymous," is going to live as a cultural artifact with a wider distribution than "Reynaldo and Clara," but it's not any better a movie. In fact, I think "Reynaldo and Clara," will end up being the better piece of film making because its visual and thematic pretensions were held more closely in check, and because its milieu was a chaotic reality rather than a fantasy. But even with that being said, "Reynaldo and Clara," isn't so much a good movie as a noble failure. Like other reviewers, I recommend "Masked & Anonymous," for those of us who can't seem to get enough of Dylan, and for students of Dylan's art, but certainly not for anyone looking for a developed work of art, or even a good movie.
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