Todd Haynes' I'm Not There
....And neither is Beyonce, apparently. Early reports stated she would be portraying Bob Dylan in Haynes' new film. Unfortunately, she may have become camera-shy since her career stalled after playing second banana to that plus-sized American Idol diva in ''Dreamgirls.'' Too bad. I think she would have been ideal in the biopic-- re-enacting Dylan's Strong Black Woman phase.
The film has a diverse cast (including Cate Blanchett) playing Dylan's various career personae. In what threatens to be more of an allegorical mess than ''Velvet Goldmine,'' Haynes may be the ideal director to illustrate Andy Warhol's summary of Dylan's appeal. In one of his '60s memoirs, Warhol recalled that the more Dylan said, ''I'm just me,'' and tried to become inscrutable, the more America's middle class party people replied, ''We're just you, too.'' And from the NY Times slideshow of movie stills, Haynes' bearded Kid Rock/Lynyrd Skynyrd guy with Rolling Thunder Review face paint perfectly captures the phase that featured Mick Ronson playing lead guitar in his touring band. (Still no word on if Owen Wilson is to play the present day, Santa Monica beach denizen phase in an uncredited cameo.)
