John Cool Hmmm. A "Bob Dylan movie" I'd never heard of before and thought to myself Oh no, not again. Surely it couldn't be worse than, say, Masked and Anonymous, or the saga of Renaldo and Clara? So I started to read some reviews and was surprised at how bad it's supposed to be. In the end, I was reticent to even watch it. Well I did just watch it and for me, I enjoyed it thoroughly.It's definitely not a cinematic masterpiece by any stretch. The draw card for me was seeing Dylan in an old movie. Wasn't expecting much, (expecting to fall asleep).It's difficult to say if a viewer has no interest in Dylan, (or Fiona), what the reaction would be. This movie is nearly 30 years old. Dylan is usually no great actor in films. Here he seems to be "acting" as himself, (whoever he is), with some iconic lines.It's definitely a much better movie than many critics portray it as. Better than a lot of the new crap I've suffered through.

justincward Written by Joe Esterhas who penned Basic Instinct and Flashdance, apparently. Also the last thing Richard Marquand directed, also apparently. Rupert Everett as a New Romantic pop idol (Joe Colt), and he's quite convincing as usual, even if his music (by John Barry, apparently) and the rest of the fake musician names (Billy Walker, Pepper Ward, etc) aren't.Basically Bob Dylan, a blue-collar American rocker meets Thatcherite England while a groupie who says she isn't a groupie because she plays a guitar tags along. There's no valid emotional content in this film that was put there intentionally, but there are plenty of bizarre and hilarious scenes to savour. Bob skinny-dipping fully clothed, and of course The Punch.For music fans of a certain age - who are the only people likely to enjoy this, this movie has the Bobster, Ian Dury, Richie Havens, Ronnie Wood, Fred Fairbrass(!), Reg Presley and you may be able to spot a few more uncredited liggers. Such is Bob's charisma that everybody wanted in, and he's also very dishy in this, apparently.But as we all know, Bob, who is a top-drawer songwriter, cannot act for toffee. Elvis Presley was a better actor than Bob. At least Elvis didn't look as though he was forcing himself not to look at the camera. Bob's obvious impatience with the filming process corresponds to his apparent impatience with the recording process - witness his habit of dashing off albums in one take; that wasn't the Elvis way either. However, some of the fake live footage of 'Billy' and his band is as good as Bob Live gets, even if Fiona spoils it with her Backwoods Suzi Quatro act.Bob Dylan made some of his worst albums in the Eighties; he also made this movie which is so bad it isn't bad, and which future Dylan fans will have to content themselves with as probably the best record of him as a working rock musician. Bob, as ever, has the last laugh. That's why we love him.

saturdaynightbeaver I don't know how this movie was funded and let alone released on any medium. No, wait, I do, two words: Bob Dylan. This movie is awful and yet my friends and I can't stop watching it. First off, it stars a nobody (Fiona) who does not carry herself at all well. For her sake, I will blame her performance on lack of experience. Then there is the editing... lets just say that brevity was not a strong point. An example, about a minute and a half of Fiona yelling "screw you" back and forth to her boss. Doesn't one or two "screw you"s say enough - get on with it.But neither of these items are half as bad as the script which makes no sense. Early on Billy Parker (Dylan) is asked why he is in town and answers with telling a story about how his parents met, then he says why he is in town. Or this piece of dialogue:Dylan: When was the last time you wrote a song?Everett: 2 years.Dylan: And the last time you toured?Everett: A year and a half.(Pause)Dylan: Got any Johnny Cash albums?Everett: A few.Dylan and Everett: (Uncontrollable laughter)What? Huh? So many bad lines so little writing space.And despite all this I enjoyed watching this film. It's like that wrecked car on the road, you've seen it before but have to watch it through. I must say I enjoyed watching Dylan, listening to the poor 80's music, Timmy Cappello on drums, and the various mullets (Rupert's was inspiring). Also, I enjoyed the worst (and funniest) punch in film history so much, that I replay it at least three times each time I watch the film.

DeeDee-10 You have to really love the guy to watch this film. It's pretty bad, but, he looks great! The songs. . . well, I've heard better. And, who is Fiona????!!!Some great cameos. . . and was that Mick Jagger in the audience at one of the concerts??? I think so.