One reason that has allowed Bob Dylan to remain viable and even dignified, is the fact that the great body of his work has been completely open to interpretation.
That is just about the only reason that his recent film, \Masked and Anonymous"" retains any significance. The enigmatic film suffers on all fronts: too many poorly-developed characters, a come-and-mostly-gone plot and a lead, Jack Fate (Dylan), who never really acts. Yet between those faults, ""Masked and Anonymous"" manages to produce enough question marks to save Dylan and everyone in it.
The film takes place in a nameless, war-torn country some time near the present day. A group of network executives figures it can aleve a little bit of the suffering with a benefit concert. That concert will feature an old folk singer, Jack Fate.
On the road to the concert, Fate encounters a desperate soldier (Giovanni Ribisi) and a cynical animal wrangler (Val Kilmer). In the days before Fate's concert, he is beset by an even darker collection of characters, ranging from a burned-out reporter, Tom Friend (Jeff Bridges), to a die-hard, optimistic fan, Bobby Cupid (Luke Wilson).
Meanwhile, Fate's promoter, Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman), and the concert producer Nina Veronica (Jessica Lange) square off early on, debating Fate's significance in a violent time. While they try to pull the concert together, a dying president (Richard Sarafian) passes his empire on to his corrupt heir (Mickey Rourke).
Fate is eventually paired up with the only cover band he ever had, A Simple Twist of Fate. They get together, strum a few chords and the rest of the movie turns into a Dylan concert with a little more dialogue.
With the powerful cast backing him up, it seems as though ""Masked and Anonymous"" could be carried on its names alone. The cast, however, overwhelms Dylan. While Wilson, Bridges and Goodman pull through with an uncommon amount of charisma, Dylan has a hard time getting past his own meditative facade.
The rest of the cast have a hard time moving past their flat roles. Lange is too angry too often. Rourke is too evil. Even Penelope Cruz, as Pagan Lace, is simply too insignificant.
Instead of watching ""Masked and Anonymous,"" it would be better to go to the final track on . ""Desolation Row"" offers surprising parallels to ""Masked and Anonymous."" Both have dark moods, drop names without developing them, and never achieve the grand goals that are set before them. Yet, somehow both are redeemed despite those glaring flaws. The dark tone is appropriately somber, the names add to the richness of the pieces, and whatever failures turn up are because both the song and the film simply cannot accomplish everything they attempt.
