Masked and Anonymous (2003)
Runtime: 2 hrs
Theatrical Release: Jul 23, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $115,149
Synopsis: Masked and Anonymous possesses such creative audacity, such a flow of ideas and provoking observations, transported by a barrage of wit, performance, and, of course, song, that you are bound to emerge from this singular film feeling both challenged and satisfied. Given the... Masked and Anonymous possesses such creative audacity, such a flow of ideas and provoking observations, transported by a barrage of wit, performance, and, of course, song, that you are bound to emerge from this singular film feeling both challenged and satisfied. Given the credentials of its architects, Larry Charles of Seinfeld and Bob Dylan, perhaps this is to be expected. But expectations are exactly what this extravagant political satire constantly overturns. At turns adventurous, playful, theatrical, and serious, this inspired combination of commentary and comedy is to be congratulated for what it accomplishes as much as the indulgence it avoids. Set somewhere, sometime, in an unnamed country, torn by civil war with unclear battle lines or ideology, Masked and Anonymous tells the story of a "benefit concert." Impressario Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman) is scheming to find a headliner for this event whose purpose is unclear and whose charity is its promoter's pockets. Nina Veronica (Jessica Lange) is the veteran TV producer whose job it is to make the concert the international spectacle which it can never be. And when Sweetheart manages to get the iconic cult star Jack Fate (Dylan, in a wonderfully taciturn performance) released from prison, the stage is set for tumult. Jeff Bridges as the cynical investigative reporter, Penelope Cruz as his girlfriend, Luke Wilson as the devoted acolyte, and a sundry cast of supporting characters give this imaginative allegory its energy and spirit. Masked and Anonymous is part cartoon, part deconstruction, and all creative vision. -- © Sony Pictures Classics [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Bob Dylan, Jeff Bridges, Penelope Cruz, John Goodman, Jessica Lange
DVD Info
Release:
Feb 17, 2004
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Widescreen
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - 1. Larry Charles - Director
- Trailers
- Featurette - 1. Making of MASKED AND ANONYMOUS
- Deleted Scenes
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
...read as a collection of moments, mortared together with some stirring music, both from Dylan and his band and from others on the soundtrack.
The great neglected movie of 2003, a rambunctious, provocative, genre-defying, and constantly surprising experiment.
A willful mess made interesting by the talent that it attracted.
Watching the film is like listening to Art Bell babble about UFOs -- it seems always on the verge of making a point but never gets there.
Just because the movie is largely unintelligible doesn't make it unwatchable, though sometimes it's artful in the same way a train wreck can be graceful.
A nonsensical vanity project for singer Bob Dylan that wastes the talents of a lot of folks who should have known better.
With Sixties vigor and carefree looseness, the legendary musician and poet has given us a late-career "Purple Rain" that turns out to be a great bad movie.
The idea of a movie where Dylan essentially plays himself sounds kind of promising. Maybe someday that movie will get made. It's not this one.
Could just as well be titled 'Masters of War' or 'Tombstone Blues' or 'Everything Is Broken.' At every cut in the action, you expect a gray flannel dwarf to scream...
It's the sort of nonsense that's intriguing for about 15 minutes, simply because its incoherence approaches a surreal level. But then the novelty wears off, and it settles into being the worst thing a movie can be: boring.
A more maddening, incoherent, frustrating film you're not likely to see.
How much you end up liking the film probably relates to how much you sympathize with Dylan or Dylan-like characters.
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Masked and Anonymous at IGN
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