Masked and Anonymous is perhaps one of the most difficult movies I've ever had to describe let alone critique. It should first be noted that this Bob Dylan-centered surreal carnival of a film features a veritable who's who of actors. Next to JFK this is probably the best (Seven degrees of Kevin Bacon linker, period). How about Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange (King Kong) Bridges and John Goodman (The Big Lebowsky) Bridges and Christian Slater (Tucker) Slater, Chris Penn and Val Kilmer (True Romance) Goodman and Lange (Everybody's All American) Lange and Ed Harris (Sweet Dreams) there's more. Also in the film are Penelope Cruz, Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Angela Bassett, Mickey Roarke and probably a few I'm forgetting.

Was this a good film. Honestly I'd say no. But it is a fascinating one, unlike just about any film I've ever seen. It takes place in some sort of fictitious war-torn third world nation, where Jack Fate (Bob Dylan) is released from a squalid prison in order to perform a benefit concert, mainly aimed at raising enough money to bail John Goodman out of a debt that is threatening his life. Jessica Lange is somehow involved as a media liaison and she spends the film walking around looking strung out and slovenly. For Bob Dylan's part, he acquits himself well enough although he appears to be rather uncomfortable with the proceedings - probably because he realizes that the whole thing is basically wack.

The look of the film is like something out of a Frida Kahlo nightmare, and the dialogue consists of lengthy polemic diatribes that are almost Shakespearean in their length and language. The performances are solid, all of these actors seem to take what they're doing serious and they all manage to keep a straight face, during some of the most absurd cinematic conditions I've ever seen. At the time, I'm sure, none of them knew what the hell this movie was going to end up like. On the upside the film has a wonderful soundtrack, comprised mostly of Dylan classics and a few Grateful Dead and Los Lobos gems - best of all there is alot of footage featuring Dylan performing live.

Still in order for a movie to succeed the audience at least needs a vague clue as to what's going on, and writer Larry Charles (Seinfeld) keeps the proceedings so completely inscrutable that even by Bergman standards this movie is likely to leave you in the dust.
In it's defense it was a brave experiment, packed with A-list actors and if nothing else it is a wonderful tribute to one of the 3 best songwriters that ever lived.