Okay, I can admit I misjudged this movie

I had the same thing, this is not the easiest film to digest and does require more attention to process fully than most films.

I had a hard time at the start - and actually turned it off confused @ 30 minutes in... later I read a few of the cliff's notes style features on the DVD extra's which explained what the movie was trying to do.. and frankly it helped a bunch... I rewatched the movie and enjoyed it a lot more... I have to agree the Jude Quinn stuff stole the show for me - but I also thought the actress playing Robbie Clark's wife was amazing... good stuff... glad I stuck with it (even if I needed some help_.

I saw this when it first came out, going in as a HUGE Dylan fan, obsessed with his life, lyrics, and how the two correlated. In other words, I was stuck searching for definite answers where meaning was unclear.

When I saw the film the first time, I loved it and thought it a masterpiece, but I was worried for it at the same time. It's hard to describe, but I thought Haynes made a wonderful tribute to Dylan, filming a "biopic" in the way Dylan would write ballads for people, i.e. altering the names (John Wesley Hardin/Harding) and exaggerating the details. Only, I thought that it would be critically and commercially panned. It was too odd, and really felt like a private movie only for the most well read Dylan fans.

The next weekend I returned with a couple of people, two who also really liked Dylan, and two who were really interested in cinema. Well, all but one of us didn't like it. The Dylan viewers liked it, but still felt confused. I remember one saying it was unlike anything they had seen. The film guys were split. One really liked it, and pointed out to me the large number of cinematic references throughout (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Persona, 2001). The other film guy didn't like it, and said it felt like a film school wannabe art-house movie.

Long story short: The last friend I mentioned recently re-watched the film and admitted that they misjudged the film. So, to you I say, great work. It takes effort to go back and reevaluate something you feel you misunderstood. Hell, it takes a lot just to realize you may have misjudged something. So, good work. This film has a lot to offer on re-watches, and after reading your post, I feel as if I need to watch it with the commentary now.

http://www.idfilm.blogspot.com/

I've watched it most of the way. It's a very long movie. I got into the part where it showed the giraffe. I was Dylan-obsessed enough that I got most of the reference until the Pat Garrett Billy the Kid part. I wasn't following him much at that time. I would think to people who don't know about Dylan it would be very, very confusing. I thought it was beautiful. Kate Blanchett, I'm amazed her being female didn't distract me at all. She seemed more like the real Dylan than any of the other ones.

One think people can do besides watch it is listen to the song with the captions and read the lyrics to the songs which are really amazing. I think Dylan sings most of them but I think there were some exceptions.