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Todd Haynes' "I'm Not There" is a kaleidoscopic reflection on the life and music of Bob Dylan.

The movie is not so much a biography as a fragmented tour through Dylan's various personas and psyches.

It is a meandering journey examining art, commerce, fame and the artist-performer's responsibility to himself and his public.

To support his premise, Haynes has different actors portraying the various fragments of Dylan's life.

Thus you get an all-star roster consisting of, among others, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett, taking turns as the many personalities -- public and private -- exhibited by one of the most scrutinized figures in the entertainment industry.

The movie has two main drawbacks.

First, if you are not familiar with Dylan's life and music, much of what transpires may seem meaningless.

Second, Haynes tells his story in a nonlinear manner, as if you were sightseeing through Dylan's subconscious.

It makes for interesting filmmaking but leaves you mentally exhausted.

This is a movie that forces you to concentrate.

None of the characters is actually named Bob Dylan. Each is meant to represent Dylan during one of the various phases of his long and illustrious career.

And each also is meant to convey that Dylan was neither a singular personality nor an individual who could be pigeonholed.

In Haynes' view, fans, followers and the media all had different expectations of the performer.

If Haynes made one misstep it was his emphasis on the uproar that followed Dylan's turning his back on folk music and going electric.

That period has been so well documented that it seems superfluous to spend so much screen time rehashing it.

Of all the performers, Blanchett comes closest to capturing the Dylan who is most familiar to the general public.

She goes beyond the makeup and wig to capture the mannerisms and essence of the man as well as the frustration of the entertainer who refused and rebelled against being labeled.

"I'm Not There" lives up to its title because you never learn who the real Dylan is.

What Haynes delivers is a composite of an uncompromising artist who travels his own Highway 61, ignoring those along the road who try to give him directions home.

By Bob Bloom (Lafayette, Ind.) / Journal & Courier