Product Details

• Actors: Bob Dylan, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz
• Directors: Larry Charles
• Writers: Bob Dylan, Larry Charles
• Producers: Anatoly Fradis, David Gaines, David M. Thompson, Guy East, Jeff Rosen
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: February 17, 2004
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (107 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00016RNOO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,885 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Masked and Anonymous is a mesmerizing experiment in surreal drama with lyrical content, a cinematic approximation of an epic Bob Dylan song on the order of "Desolation Row." Not coincidentally, Dylan is a co-writer and star of this 2003 film, playing an enigmatic folk-rocker named Jack Fate, a political prisoner in an unnamed, civil war-torn country. Set free to headline a benefit concert organized by an unscrupulous promoter (John Goodman) and television executive (Jessica Lange), Jack embarks on a fateful journey through a battle-scarred land. Taken literally, Masked and Anonymous proves bewildering, even exasperating, but as a feverish act of unrestrained political satire the film has a lot to offer, including some of the best recent performances by Goodman, Lange, Jeff Bridges (as a cynical journalist), Val Kilmer (a babbling prophet), Luke Wilson (a musician), and Giovanni Ribisi (a haunted soldier). Dylan himself proves a stiff cipher, but fun to watch. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker

Bob Dylan's first foray into film in fifteen years should be considered his first film in almost thirty: the mid-eighties abomination "Hearts of Fire" isn't good for much but a punch line. "Masked and Anonymous," directed by the "Seinfeld" vet Larry Charles and probably written largely by Dylan himself (the credited scriptwriters seem to be pseudonyms) takes place in a near-future America torn apart by revolution; Jack Fate (Dylan) is a washed-up rock star who gets roped into a benefit concert by the unscrupulous promoter Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman). Dylan's most ambitious songs have always been alarmingly overpopulated-think "Desolation Row"-and that spirit suffuses the film, which doesn't skimp on the supporting cast: there's a harried television producer (Jessica Lange), a cynical journalist (Jeff Bridges), a shifty roadie (Luke Wilson), a disreputable politician (Mickey Rourke), an unhinged animal lover (Val Kilmer), and even a mysterious Lady in Red (Angela Bassett). Dylan, with a huge cowboy hat atop his stringbean body, moves through the film stolidly, though he is required to cry at one point. Whenever there's a slack moment in the political allegory, which is a kind of crazy quilt of Shakespeare, Gabriel García Márquez, and "Putney Swope," the soundtrack-split between fierce performances by Dylan's crack touring band and world-music covers of Dylan standards-redeems it. And though the plot, such as it is, unravels toward the end, the movie holds its own as part of the Dylan canon: it's knowing without always being knowledgeable, darkly humorous, full of wisdom both faux and real, and genuinely mysterious. -Ben Greenman
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

141 of 150 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, May 8, 2003

By 

Michael Smith (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

You would probably have to go back to early Godard to find a movie as audacious, shockingly funny and brilliantly incisive in its analysis of the uneasy alliance between art and commerce as the sci-fi/film noir/spaghetti-western/Shakespearean musical-tragicomedy, Masked and Anonymous, the new movie from Bob Dylan and Larry Charles. As with some Godard, I can't say whether it's a comedy or a tragedy - but it's definitely a masterpiece.
To direct the Hollywood cast to speak in the script's poetic, ornate language could not have been easy but the actors do an exemplary job. Nearly all of them manage to hit just the right note of cartoonish hysteria to give the film a sense of unity and harmony. Except, that is, for Bob Dylan. His character, Jack Fate, is the calm in the eye of the storm, the one rational character surrounded by a world of swirling insanity and director Charles gets a lot of comic mileage out of the contrast
between Dylan's deadpan delivery and the over-the-top performances of nearly everyone else; it's like taking a Humphrey Bogart character out of the '40's and plunking him down in the middle of a massively absurd science-fiction landscape - the resignation and world-weariness of the film noir hero remains hilariously intact. The very idea is inspired and the execution is flawless.
The performance footage of course is terrific. Dylan and His Band play eight songs live on camera and there is a warmth, an intimacy and a relaxed quality to the performances that you will only see at Dylan's best club shows. Although none of the songs are heard in their entirety, these sequences are nonetheless beautifully filmed. There is none of the rapid-fire editing and pointlessly roving camera that mars the filmed footage of so many live musical performances. Instead, Charles' strategy is to have the band crowd together and film them in close-up with a wide-angle lens. There are numerous long takes in which all of the band members can be seen and when the camera does move, it's deliberate and meaningful.
In a recent interview, Larry Charles said he never worried about
finding a distributor for the film and that Dylan had told him long ago not to worry about the film "in the short term." However the film _is_ received in the short term, the richly orchestrated tapestry of sound and image that is Masked and Anonymous is sure to keep Dylanologists and film fans alike busy for decades.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dylan plays Dylan, February 17, 2004

By 

Michael L. Cantara "georgiasam5" (Merrimack, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Masked and Anonymous (DVD)

Two things will really add to the appreciation of thid film. 1. An extremely open mind and 2. a working knowledge of Bob Dyaln; his history, his philosophy, his music. This is not a high budget film. Think more surrealist art house film. It does have many stars that most people will recognize, but that isn't the focus, nor point of the movie. This is the highly metaphorical tale of a musician and how he can't control his place in a chaotic society, but can remain true to his own self amid the chaos.

The very loosely woven plot becomes secondary to the individual events which make up the film, each scene revealing a nugget of Dylan's perspevtive. Dylan often delivers comments that make the entire scene seem irrelevant. In this way this is, at times, a very funny film. Dylan seems relaxed, especially compared to the other films he has made. The feeling is much more "Don't Look Back", much less "Hearts of Fire". He does retain his wooden movement and he delivers his short lines as commentary more often than conversation.

The soundtrack is exceptional. The performances are a real treat. All Dylan songs, but unique versions which fit seemlessly into the texture of the movie. The little girl singing "The Times They are A-Changin" will at least choke you up a bit, and possibly help us to remeber exactly how much that song meant 41 years ago, and how much it still means today.

I certainly recommend this to Dylan fans, especially those who respect or admire his perspective on the world. Anyone who enjoys non formulatic surreal films may also find much enjoyment in this movie. There is too much to pick everything up in your first screening when looking for interesting comments or details. I would recommend trying to watch and a get a feel for the film initially. Don't drive yourself crazy trying to make sense of every detail. In that way it is like most of Dylan's music, to be experienced repeatedly.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Explanations of the years of silence, February 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Masked and Anonymous (DVD)

Many critics panned this movie simply because they have never really listened to Bob Dylan's words. This was a biography if i've ever seen one. "You can't change the world by singing" was one of John Goodman's lines in the film. "His whole life can be put on trial" was one of Jessica Lange's lines. This is Dylan's commentaries on the media, what they've done to him, and what he would like to do to them. It is also a commentary on the way our country is heading and the world as a whole. The movie had such memorable lines as "we are giving people new identities, and rewriting history books, and we will create a nation of lawbreakers and cash in on the guilt". This movie was took a genius to write, and if you don't get it, read the lyrics to 'My back pages' or Not Dark Yet', and you'll get an idea of what Dylan thinks of his career and the things he has regretably stood for.