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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 sometimes we have to know what things don't mean as well Dec 02, 2008
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Uncle Sweetheart: [to Jack Fate] You look good. You got the "jail pale". It suits you.
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The first time I tried to watch Masked & Anonymous I got to the part where Jack Fate sings for the first time since being released from prison and I couldn't understand a word he was singing. I gave up and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up refreshed and gave it another try. When I heard "My Back Pages" performed by Mogokoro Brothers as kind of a hip hop thing done in a foreign language (Spanish?) I knew I was going to enjoy the movie. The sound track is chock full of Bob Dylan songs, done everywhich way, from The Golden Gate Strings, or Percy Faith and his Orchestra, to The Ramones, or Los Lobos. Pulled in by his music, I had no trouble understanding the words of Jack Fate, alias Bob Dylan.
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Jack Fate: I was always a singer and maybe no more then that. Sometimes it's not enough to know the meaning of things, sometimes we have to know what things don't mean as well. Like what does it mean to not know what the person you love is capable of? Things fall apart, especially all the neat order of rules and laws. The way we look at the world is the way we really are. See it from a fair garden and everything looks cheerful. Climb to a higher plateau and you'll see plunder and murder. Truth and beauty are in the eye of the beholder. I stopped trying to figure everything out a long time ago.
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The movie takes place in a politically unstable future, like some South American country always on the verge of another coup, another revolution. Jack Fate is in jail, but Nina Veronica (Jessica Lange) and Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman) have plans to spring him so he can play a big benefit concert. It would mostly benefit them, of course, but The Network is not really aware of just how big a legend Jack Fate is. Still, they can get him cheap, and so the show will go on. Meanwhile journalist Tom Friendly (Jeff Bridges) is assigned to do a story or an interview on the man, and Tom reluctantly brings along his young girlfriend, Pagan Lace Penélope Cruz).
But don't let the plot get in the way of the story, because the movie is really a fable or a metaphor for the career and life of Bob Dylan. How he approached the life of a traveling folk singer as a kind of poet, but then became a prisoner of his own fame. Where his poems came from he didn't know himself, they kind of just went through him. He saw flaming letters and wrote down what they spelled out. People thought he had the answers. They thought he had all the answers and was just sitting on them, like a dragon guarding a decaying horde of gold that wasn't doing anybody any good. Obsessed fans went through his trash and harrassed him because he refused to give them the answers they knew he had stashed away.
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Jack Fate: By the way, which side of the political fence are you on?
Desk Clerk: I do not belong to any political party, sir. I guess you could call me... a feminist
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The movie was written by Bob Dylan and Larry Charles under assumed names, because they were masked and anonymous. Dylan was Sergei Petrov and Charles was Rene Fontaine. Mr. Charles was a writer for Seinfeld and then he had his own show, Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry Charles directed it, his first feature film, and they knocked it out in 20 days, filming on digital video. A stellar cast worked for much less than usual for the chance to be in a movie with Dylan. They were honored to be included, as well they should.
A high point in the movie is when a very young black woman (Tinashe Kachingwe) sings "The Times They Are A-Changin'" Even a tool of a critic who trashed the movie and called it a vanity project was moved by this scene. There are many interesting versions of Dylan's music performed for the soundtrack. Virtually all of the songs were written by him, and he also contributes quite a few performances of his own music. Masked and Anonymous is a great film, but if you don't 'get' Bob Dylan, then you probably will be perplexed by it. Sometimes it's not enough to know the meaning of things, sometimes we have to know what things don't mean as well.
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Soldier: I wish I could live in my dreams. Do you dream?
Jack Fate: Yeah, I dream. I dream that I'm walking through fire... Intense heat. I don't pay much attention to my dreams.
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MASKED & ANONYMOUS
Directed by
Larry Charles
Writing credits
Bob Dylan (written by) (as Sergei Petrov) &
Larry Charles (written by) (as Rene Fontaine)
SELECTED CAST
Bob Dylan ... Jack Fate
Jeff Bridges ... Tom Friend
Penélope Cruz ... Pagan Lace
John Goodman ... Uncle Sweetheart
Jessica Lange ... Nina Veronica
Luke Wilson ... Bobby Cupid
Angela Bassett ... Mistress
Bruce Dern ... Editor
Ed Harris ... Oscar Vogel
Val Kilmer ... Animal Wrangler
Cheech Marin ... Prospero
Chris Penn ... Crew Guy #2
Giovanni Ribisi ... Soldier
Mickey Rourke ... Edmund
Christian Slater ... Crew Guy #1
Fred Ward ... Drunk
Alex Désert ... Valentine
OTHER NOTABLE ROLES OF CAST MEMBERS OF MASKED & ANONYMOUS
Hearts of Fire (1987) .... Bob Dylan was Billy Parker
Renaldo and Clara (1978) .... Bob Dylan was Renaldo
The Big Lebowski (1998) .... Jeff Bridges was Jeffrey Lebowski - The Dude [John Goodman was Walter Sobchak]
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) .... Penélope Cruz was Maria Elena
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) .... John Goodman was Big Dan Teague
Music Box (1989) .... Jessica Lange was Ann Talbot
Old School (Widescreen Unrated Edition) (2003) .... Luke Wilson was Mitch Martin
What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) .... Angela Bassett was Anna Mae Bullock / Tina Turner
The Wild Angels (1966) .... Bruce Dern was Loser
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) .... Ed Harris was Dave Moss
Wonderland (2003) .... Val Kilmer was John Holmes
Up in Smoke (1978) .... Cheech Marin was Pedro De Pacas
Boiler Room (2000) .... Giovanni Ribisi was Seth Davis
Reservoir Dogs (1992) .... Chris Penn was Nice Guy Eddie Cabot
Barfly (1987) .... Mickey Rourke was Henry Chinaski
The Contender (2000) .... Christian Slater was Reginald Webster [Jeff Bridges was President Jackson Evans]
Henry & June (1990) .... Fred Ward was Henry Miller
Swingers (1996) (as Alex Desert) .... Alex Désert was Charles
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Jack Fate: All of us in some way are trying to kill time. When it's all said and done, time ends up killing us.
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Art House Dylan Oct 04, 2008
This is rated PG-13, but it's a must for any Dylan fan. From the blurbs and reviews, one can piece together the story, so I won't recount it. It most reminds me of the Sam Shephard (sp.) plays I've seen performed and acted in. There's a bit that seems almost taken from T-Bone Burnett's Truth Decay album, and has the same intonation and delivery. There's a band that includes Charlie Sexton, who joined Dylan's band after recording two Tonio-K songs. Full of rare genius, this film has the usual suspects' fingerprints all over it.
The last three films I watched had John Goodman in them, but here he outdoes himself in a performance that may equal that in O Brother, Where Art Thou? Val Kilmer hints at hidden depths and could have excelled in a wider part. Jeff Bridges as the writer delivers a curiously muted performance. In my view, he simply doesn't have John Goodman's command of language. However, he could be playing The Big Lebowski (sp.), this so easily slips into Coen Bros. /T-Bone Burnett territory. The natural in this film, however, is Jessica Lange. Hers is an Oscar winning performance (if films like this were ever considered for Oscars).
What of Dylan? I most enjoyed watching him perform, and likely don't have the same view of that as some other reviewers. I thought he was rather forced on 'Dixie" and the other folk songs, mostly because people know how those go and expect a certain sort of rendering. But Dylan's originals are his own. There's a tremendous version of "I'll Remember You," unplugged and far slower than whatever album it appeared on. There's also one verse of "Blind Willie McTell", which is on the third disc of Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3. Also in that boxed CD set is a dazzling number called "Angelina". An instrumental version of "Angelina" plays near the end of the film, but the lyrics are never sung.
I eagerly searched for the CD soundtrack, thinking these songs would be on it, but they're not. Some critics have found this film to be pretentious and self-conscious. I found it anything but. There is some overdubbed talking, apparently in the first person by Dylan persona Jack Fate, which may fall into that category, and there is a Jeff Bridges monologue I would have edited out. Some of the Jack Fate parts sound like they could have been Dylan reading his autobiography. The actual character rarely speaks in the film, and doesn't seem too far removed from the riverboat gambler of Love and Theft. I would have liked T-Bone Burnett to have been in this film, but of course he's busy with his Coen Bros. projects, producing and, I hope, re-releasing Proof Through the Night and Trap Door for those of us who missed the Rhino limited edition release.
The photography is amazing. The iconography seems taken from the cover of the little heard Dylan album, Knocked Out Loaded, which perhaps helped inspire it. Dylan is one of the few performers at home in both French and Spanish culture. He regularly performs at the New Orleans jazz festivals, and is here at home among references to Hemmingway and other expatriates. Finally, the writing in this film is amazing. Where are you going? Jack Fate asks a fellow traveller at a bus stop. "This way," he replies. "Another good way is that way" or words to that effect. "Masked" captures Dylan in perhaps his most natural persona, and one to which many can relate, that of the wanderer. It walks into serious business indeed, without taking itself too seriously, and proves that art house need not be arty.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The Heroic Bob Dylan now also as a Movie Hero Jun 22, 2008
Masked and Anonymous (2003)
Writers: Bob Dylan (written by) &
Larry Charles (written by)
I did not know I had this movie. Sorting through old DVDs I found 5 movies starring Penelope Cruz. Then I looked more closely at the cover art - there he was - the living legend - Bob Dylan starring in a movie of his own (directed by Seinfeld director).
That was enough reason for anyone to watch this movie. Dylan starring as Jack Fate - an old forgotten heroic musician lost to the modern era. He is brought back on stage by a hustling friend (Goodman) who is organising a charity where none of the big stars want to play. Damn all LiveAids and the rest. This is in a country unknown with a war not understood at an unspecified year.
Now the fabulous star cast that bring more vigour to the solid presence of Dylan himself:
Bob Dylan ... Jack Fate
Jeff Bridges ... Tom Friend
Penélope Cruz ... Pagan Lace
John Goodman ... Uncle Sweetheart
Jessica Lange ... Nina Veronica
Luke Wilson ... Bobby Cupid
Angela Bassett ... Mistress
Steven Bauer ... Edgar
Michael Paul Chan ... Guard
Bruce Dern ... Editor
Ed Harris ... Oscar Vogel
Val Kilmer ... Animal Wrangler
Cheech Marin ... Prospero
Chris Penn ... Crew Guy #2
Giovanni Ribisi ... Soldier
They all are perfect in their characters.
I didn't recognise Mickey Rourke as the President's son and heir. But I recognised his voice of course - am a fan of that guy or rather the crazy people he plays in his movies.
So you think it is too heavily loaded with superstars to make it work?
Well the question you need to ask is :
Do you love every single Bob Dylan song he has ever written?
Affirmative!
The appeal of the movie is to people to whom his songs speak to. He sings about You, about Everyone. The movie has the same USP. And there are Dylan songs galore here even before they were released in Album format.
When the movie started with the legend's songs being covered by pop/hiphop style versions as background music I must say I was outraged. But these are good cover versions. And then of course Jack Fate (Dylan) is recruited to do the charity gig and he sings.........
Live Dylan and there are other beauties. Jessica as the stressed out media exec and Penelope as Jeff Bridges' Jesus fearing lady.
Incredible movie magic as Dylan kicks Jeff Bridges' a$$ to protect the hustler friend. Dylan floors him easily and the climax makes you ponder the futility of all Life everywhere.
There are incredible monologues in this movie. The one by Val Kilmer is an acting lesson and work of genius.
Then those by Dylan and then him reminiscing the horrible past and dead present.
Then there is that weird radio Jessica listens to which gives out News about discovering things at the Earth's crust and how hollow Earth's soul really is.
Yes Philosophy or Abstract Art - whatever you call it - its mesmerising and captivating.
Visit Wikipedia page to check out the fab music in this treasure of a movie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_and_Anony mous
At IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319829/
Bob Dylan Fans Unite! Apr 07, 2008
This was a suprise film for me! Definitely chalked full of Bob Dylan's abstract point of views, and all that with his music underlying the story...cool little retreat. The guest appearances by some of the well known actors are very fun...and the rolls they play make you sit back and think...what the hell? Which is totally Dylan, and totally fun. Everytime I watch the film, I pick up on something, or some little spoken ditty that I missed before.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Mad and Ridiculous Nov 19, 2007
Bob Dylan, Jeff Bridges, Penelope Cruz, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Angela Bassett, Bruce Dern, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer, Cheech Marin, Chris Penn, Giovanni Ribisi, Christian Slater - among others. With a blockbuster cast like that it's got to be good, right? Wrong. This movie is, to paraphrase Churchill's description of Russia, a train wreck wrapped inside a catastrophe. The fun is seeing all those stars. The regret is seeing all that talent squandered. It's like one of those dreadful Altman movies where you spend all your time going, "Oh my God, that's xyz," because actors love him so much they're willing to play hotel clerks, meter maids, and lavatory attendants. The same force is at work here. Dylan has so much juice that terrific actors jumped at the opportunity to work for peanuts and failed to notice that the concept, script, and direction were staggeringly awful.
This said, there are moments, and appropriately enough, they are always isolated. If you enjoy painfully self-conscious, intentionally murky art house soliloquies, meaningless twaddle disguised as deeply poetic reasoning - and who doesn't? - you'll be pleased. Ribisi, as a soldier who changes sides as often as you or I might change clothes, delivers the best one, followed by Kilmer who has a Walken-esque gift for deranged, disturbing characters. Bridges is convincing as a nihilistic, alcoholic journalist whose abrasive, narcissistic pursuit of Dylan must have been very amusing to these insiders, accustomed as they are to fleeing from this type. The absolute lack of plot and character provided some participants with motivation to act, presumably in hopes of causing something to happen. In addition to Bridges, Goodman and Lange give it the old school try. By contrast, Dylan seems to be sleepwalking through the entire effort, expressing absolutely no emotional range whatsoever. Perhaps, since everyone else can do a good Bob Dylan impression, he didn't feel the need to do a good one himself.
Larry Charles shoulders the directorial shame, and shares the writing shame with Dylan. A generous soul might say that some of the alleged third world footage (actually L.A.) shares the same stream of conscious feeling one gets from Dylan's better songs, jarring imagery, disjointed, haunting thoughts. A generous soul might say that the twin themes of social revolution and musical posturing manipulated by the media says a great deal about where pop culture stands today as opposed to where it stood when we all believed that the times really were a changing. A generous soul might. But that generous soul ain't me. Babe.
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