Masked and Anonymous

http://knoxblogs.com/the-vanities-review/author/davidhunter/Finding Gold on The Independent Film ChannelI just saw a film on an a television channel that specializes in Independent, off beat, didn't quite make it films. It was made in 2003 and is called Masked and Anonymous. I'd neither seen nor heard of it. It was directed, produced and written by Larry Charles, who penned the first five seasons of the Seinfield sitcom. Bob Dylan co-authored the script under the pseudonym "Sergei Petrov." I have no idea why Dylan, who also was the central character and star, used a pseudonym.According to Wikipedia the people's encyclopedia, the film was funded by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and filmed in 20 days.Despite the the obvious low priority and short shooting schedule, here is a partial list some of actors who have commanded millions for roles they've played, who signed on to work for union scale . The current Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) daily rate, is $880; and the weekly rate is $3,280. Here are some you will probably recognize: John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz, Val Kilmer, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Bruce Dern, Cheech Marin, Ed Harris; Christian Slater and Fred Ward.Let's face it, the opportunity to work with a living legend like Bob Dylan doesn't come along every day, even for stars to work for what was minimum wage to them, just to be a part of it.Masked and Anonymous is set in an undated future world in which chaos and a dictatorial, third world type government reign. Dylan plays a washed up but legendary music icon, Jack Fate, who is obviously supposed to be Dylan himself. Fate is the estranged son of the the President/Dictator of the United States is in prison when the film begins.Fate is sprung from prison by Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman) -- a shady concert promoter -- to be featured in, a giant charity concert, with which the desperate promoter plans to pay off his own debts. Goodman's character is being pursued by criminal types to whom he owes a lot of money. He. has described the concert as "something that will be bigger than Woodstock."It seems that this film is mostly a platform for Bob Dylan's music, politics and philosophy, and that's all right with me. Not an actor, the former Robert Zimmerman still manages to deliver his lines and voice-overs in an acceptable, though somewhat monotone voice and the actors working for scale seem to try no less harder than if they were starring in a film based on a Nobel Prize winning novel.Goodman plays as the blowhard con man who will say anything to make the concert a success, is very believable; Val Kilmer gave an exceptional performance as a hippy-like prophet who loves animals and hates people; the always beautiful Jessica Lange, plays an aging former world famous actress, working as a go-between manager is superb as usual -- implementing orders from the unidentified criminal syndicate bosses through Goodmans's character, who must in turn persuade Fate to go along with the orders disguised as "requests;" Christian Slater is outstanding as a philosophical stagehand, watching and commenting on the often chaotic situation.Last but not least, Mickey Rourke Plays, Edmund, a sort of foster brother to Dylan's character, who says to the music legend at one point: "I'm the man your father always wanted you to be."I will not give a way any more of the rice paper thin plot or the ending. As an example of cinematic art, most critics gave it a violent thumbs down, but I'm not a cinematic critic. If you came of age in the sixties, saw Woodstock as an almost religious event -- and especially if you are a Bob Dylan fan -- you need to watch this film. I just ordered it on CD for a few dollars and I generally don't collect films or CDs. It can also be downloaded directly for immediate viewing.This film is worth seeing, especially if you fit the criteria of an aging Dylan fan who came of age in the 1960s, or a student of the music of that era. Here are a few quotes from Masked and Anonymous:

Director Larry Charles works a lot on HBO producing and writing comedy. This film was a pet project for him, and somehow he recruited a plethora of excellent people to be involved in what became a clunky movie. It is a very dark Sci-Fi/Musical/Adventure/Comedy. It is part political allegory, and part fairy tale--with a healthy dash of rock video for zest.Bob Dylan is the pivotal character, and gets the most screen time. I can't get over how much he is looking like a short Vincent Price these days, what with his thin haggard face and pencil thin goatee. Dylan is getting a lot of press these days, since Martin Scorsese released the new documentary on him--shown first on PBS, and released immediately in DVD.The world of the near distant future seems to be a mess--rife with revolution and anarchy. The president of the US, who looks like a Central American dictator reject, is dying of a social disease secondary to his pedophilia. Bob Dylan is supposed to be his prodigal son--who once had a career as protest rock star (some stretch for Dylan), and who has been cooling his heels in a filthy prison as a political prisoner.The film swarms with big stars doing cameos and small roles. It is the kind of independent small film that might have been a real classic, but has ended up a poorly edited mish-mash. Yet, having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if some day it reached a kind of cult status for its use of Bob Dylan and all those stars--kind of a grand and noble close call to greatness--a film almost impossible to fully comprehend--a plot almost too silly to reflect. Yet a movie that stays with you, irritating your intellect.John Goodman rants and raves as a sleezy con man promoter. Jessica Lange looks great as his producer partner, although her dialogue makes very little sense. Giovanni Ribissi had a nice scene as a burned out freedom fighter. Jeff Bridges plays a burned out alcoholic reporter, who carries a gun, and gets beat up a lot--after spouting divers non-sequiters and poetry. Penelope Cruz wanders about lost as his religious zealot, ex-whore girlfriend--crossing herself hundreds of times just prior to and following all the scenes she is in. Mickey Rourke plays a gangster White House Chief of Staff, who takes over the country once the President dies. He is supposed to be a childhood friend of Dylan's--a foundling that El Presidente raised and kept beside him. Christian Slater and Chris Penn play philosophizing stage hands who do a poor imitation of a Greek Chorus--and mostly stand around with their arms crossed, looking perplexed.But Bob Dylan is the focus--if there is one. He and his band perform 8 or 10 songs, and it is fun to watch him and listen to him--although he mumbles so much half of the lyrics are lost--even to the engineers who struggled to make them audible. This film will entertain you, and perplex you. I liked it, even though it played out like a rough cut, and the religious existential apocalyptic images do not mesh well. Give it a look for yourself.

This 2003 film starring and co-written by Bob Dylan, almost escaped my notice. I'm so glad I found this and now own a copy (as well as the excellent soundtrack CD). The cast includes Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Luke Wilson, Jessica Lange, Penelope Cruz, with cameo appearances from Val Kilmer, Ed Harris, Chris Penn, Bruce Dern, Mickey Rourke, Christian Slater, Angela Bassett and others. The music is the very best of Dylan, some of it performed live by him in the film, others recorded by other artists, all of it amazing. This is probably only for the true Dylan fans and aficionados (like me) and not the casual fan or movie goer.

Is this a disturbing potentially prophetic film or merely a desultory cinematographic representation of a deranged (albeit genius) mind? Who knows? When the movie was released in 2003 it was probably considered the latter, but with recent developments in the USA, similar to the far-from-subtle satire Idiocracy, it appears that Bob Dylan’s flight of fantasy might very well be a cautionary tale as it presents a country torn by a brutal civil war ruled by a President who controls the media and ruthlessly crushes any dissent. The movie follows the derisible attempt of John Goodman’s Uncle Sweetheart to stage a one-man benefit concert staring Bob Dylan's strangely familiar ex-con Jack Fate. Many well-known actors play parts which provide insightful reflections on power, politics and religion and there are numerous vignettes which significantly stand-alone – since the overall narrative is both disjointed and unfathomable. However, despite its numerous detractors and obvious pretentious faults I really liked the quirkiness of this movie. It provides no obvious answers as there are no obvious questions. Definitely obscure but this is a film which should undoubtedly be judged through the eye of its beholder.

As a Dylan fan, even I struggle to find a reason to watch this again. Dylan must realise by now that he can't act and that arty-farty films have little appeal even to his most ardent fans.I have almost everything Dylan has ever done, plus over the years received many books about and by the man. The only redeeming feature of this film is the footage of Dylan performing a few of his songs with a different backing group, who work hard to support.There are a few well known actors in this film who are obviously Dylan fans themselves, unless they just wanted to be in an improvised production where their artistic selves could be given free rein.

Warning! If you are not a Bob Dylan aficionados then you will probably hate this. Know your Dylan and you’ll enjoy all the insider jokes.... best of the Dylan films.

Not one review of this film has mentioned the humourTo be found in it. I thought it was chaotic but hilariousSpecially the part where val kilmar desperatley triesTo get our bob to open up on where bob was at. All heCould get were muttering and mumbling from our bobFrom underneath a huge 20 gallon hat I was in tucksMust add too some great music loved dixie track and diamond joe. Lighten up reviewers.

Bobcats will love this. They are a hardy bunch and will be prepared to stick with this often inscrutable, sometimes bizarre film. Although co-written by Dylan (under a hopeless pseudonym) it is no mere vanity project and features a truly great cast. While John Goodman, Val Kilmer, Jeff Bridges and Penelope Cruz do their best to not act Bob off the screen, he does a good job of lending wisdom and mystery to the ageing character of Jack Fate. Fate has to play one last benefit concert for the victims of post revolutionary America, which looks just like Dylan's Desolation Row. The entire film weaves dream like images around some great song performances from Bob and his band. It's like being lost in some of your favourite Dylan albums. There is little plot to speak of, rather an almost non-linear sequence of scenes recalling nothing less than an Empire burlesque and a World Gone Wrong. It doesn't reveal any obvious truths about Dylan, it's not autobiographical, and it's certainly not an easy view. However, it is witty and deeply human in places, and there are snatches of dialogue worthy of the best Dylan lines. This should be seen, not just by Dylan fans, but by fans of brave and individual cinema making.