Masked and Anonymous (2003)

Sadly Over-hyped

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Like a few others writing here, I am a Dylan fan, so that is bound to color my view. I saw this movie twice in its theatrical release, the first time in San Rafael, CA with about 4 or 5 others in the theatre. The movie affected me deeply--at first, the apocalyptic scenario was intensely disturbing--almost too bleak for me to handle, but then I got into the absurdist flow of the film. This movie ostensibly has a "plot," but it's also plot less at the same time-- the plot may not matter as much as the illusions created along the way. My other most salient memory is of my being moved to tears during Dylan's performance of "Dixie." Such a stark and plaintive rendition of that old song. The musical performances throughout the movie are some of the best performances by Dylan captured on film. This is a great way to see latter-day Dylan (2002 in Canoga Park to be precise), and you can watch the video of "Cold Irons Bound" on youtube to see what I mean. I wish Dylan's people would release a DVD of the songs recorded that day in Canoga Park--as many as 20 songs, according to some accounts. As I write this review, president-elect Trump is waiting in the wings, and I fear the film's apocalyptic tone will be more relevant than ever. If you love Dylan and film as an art form, this movie is definitely worth a look. I've looked many times!

I am a HUGE Dylan fan, but this movie was a train wreck. It was so bad I had to watch it until the end. Kept hoping it would get better. It didn't. Even all the great cast members were flat in their roles. None of them could impart any emotion in their characters. Heck, I couldn't tell if it was a drama or a tongue in cheek comedy. The story line was weak and it was hard to figure out why most of the characters were even in the story line. Guess I'm just not that intellectual like those that gave this a high rating. The reason I gave it 2 stars was for the the music in the film. Which there wasn't enough of to keep me happy. If you have nothing better to do, I recommend that you do watch this flick. It's amazingly awful. Just like a train wreck. Sorry Bob, I've been to at least 10 of your concerts and your music has made me cry tears of joy, but acting is not something you were born to do.

OK, where to start? Depending on your disposition or frame of mind, this will either strike you as something brilliant or a complete waste of time. Maybe it could be both, I'm not sure. For one thing, it would help greatly if you've lived the last half century to get some takeaway from the picture. Dylan made his bones in the turbulent Sixties with songs that questioned dubious politics, war and even life itself. But what was the substance of his message? Most of the time he couldn't tell you because he was making music, music that reached out and conveyed an ethereal quality that was blowin' in the wind somewhere. Fans would get hung up on the meaning of an album cover when it was just an album cover. Sometimes it didn't get any deeper than that, but there was this hunger for some meaningful introspection that just wasn't there."Masked and Anonymous" is like that. With a backdrop of various Dylan tunes ("All of the songs are recognizable, even if they're not recognizable" - Uncle Sweetheart), the story meanders along hinting at a flash-point when the revolutionaries will turn everything upside down. But the fact is, everything's upside down anyway. Dylan himself looks like a Central American dictator, often back-dropped by characters looking like John Paul II, Ghandi and Abe Lincoln. The supporting cast is formidable, but they all seem to be in different movies. Of the bunch, Val Kilmer is brilliant as a visionary animal wrangler who deftly handles a poisonous coral snake and pretends to kill a rabbit. That it was a White Rabbit might have been another subtle attempt to bridge the past with the present, but then again, it might not.The one thing I can unquestionably say I enjoyed about the picture was Dylan's rendition of 'Dixie' - very cool. I groaned slightly when the young girl did 'The Times They are a Changin' because it was so expected. I think though, if Dylan really wants to tell us something, he should just come out and say it.

-this film makes me want to buy a passport and get the heck out of the USA.-i liked seeing how they used the masonic temple on Wilshire for the makeshift white house.-Was the president jack fates father? -The new president rocked as an evil man. He was everything G W Bush wants to be. He "friggin" knocked the podium over after his speech.-Val Kilmer is so charismatic, it makes me swoon. And I'm not even gay.-Let's see, what else can I say?-Apparently, Bob Dylan was supposed to sing "The Watchtower"/Hendricks but changed his mind. You know how Bob his.-The music still comes off well. I wish Angela Bassets character was delved into.-The DVD shows more of the supporting characters' background on the deleted scenes. The deleted parts aren't extremely helpful to the overall story. And one is just creepy.