Cate’s Dylan is Chillin’

In a move that will prompt a knowing nod from some and a furious conniption fit from others, the Bob-Dylan-based biopic “I’m Not There” has been nominated for an Oscar – or more specifically, Cate Blanchett, almost the only strong part of that movie, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, NME reported Tuesday.

Blanchett already walked away from the film with a Golden Globe, and she deserves it – out of all the rock-star dudes on the set, she played the best Bob Dylan, which probably makes even Bob Dylan raise an eyebrow.

For anyone who has not partaken of this singular film event, I’ll try to fill you in, because it’s complicated. A list of about 6 actors, including Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere and the sadly late Heath Ledger each play a Bob-Dylan-esque character – some fictional, others historical – that represents Bob Dylan at some point in his life. For example, Marcus Carl Franklin plays an 11-year-old train-hopping Woody Gutherie, who is supposed to represent Bob Dylan just starting out on his path to fame, etc. I don’t want to write a movie review, but it suffered from a few faults, including being too abstract for anyone who isn’t related to Pablo Picasso, and oddly, some of the actors’ dismal portrayals. Like Christian Bale, whose Jack Rollins character apparently represented Bob Dylan at a time of his life when he was filled up with cement, fed too much caffeine and told to act like he’s mad and stuff. The timeline jumped around, and Billy the Kid was played by Richard Gere, for crying out loud… My friends were revolted, and made me walk out 15 minutes before it ended.

At any rate, Cate Blanchett saved the film with her Jude Quinn, representing a just-starting-to-get-huge-and-telling-people-to-fuck-off Bob Dylan, whose lanky, hand-waving, drunken, rude-comment slurring mannerisms brought the real deal to life. Being called a sell-out by his oldest fans, being put on a pedestal by the press, being taunted mercilessly by a bratty model and constantly wondering “what do all those pills do, man?”, Quinn (Blanchett) was right out of the photo books. She should walk around like that in real life.

Maybe when the Academy Awards air on February 24, Blanchett will totter up onto the stage in sunglasses and a ‘fro and say, “what are all you people staring at, man?” Maybe not.