A singer, whose career has gone on a downward spiral, is forced to make a comeback to the performance stage for a benefit concert.
Director:
Larry Charles
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Title: Masked and Anonymous (2003)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Bob Dylan | ... | Jack Fate | |
| Jeff Bridges | ... | Tom Friend | |
| Penélope Cruz | ... | Pagan Lace | |
| John Goodman | ... | Uncle Sweetheart | |
| Jessica Lange | ... | Nina Veronica | |
| Luke Wilson | ... | Bobby Cupid | |
| Angela Bassett | ... | Mistress | |
| Steven Bauer | ... | Edgar | |
| Michael Paul Chan | ... | Guard | |
| Bruce Dern | ... | Editor | |
| Ed Harris | ... | Oscar Vogel | |
| Val Kilmer | ... | Animal Wrangler | |
| Cheech Marin | ... | Prospero | |
| Chris Penn | ... | Crew Guy #2 | |
| Giovanni Ribisi | ... | Soldier | |
Against the backdrop of a nation on the brink of revolution, Uncle Sweetheart and Nina Veronica are slimy promoters planning a benefit concert. They desire the services of legendary singer Jack Fate, and soon Fate is sprung from jail. A rock journalist investigates the concert, attempting to determine just who will benefit. Revolution may be raging outside the arena, but Jack Fate and the benefit concert play on as planned. Written by Ken Miller <wkmiller704@yahoo.com>
There was a time when music mattered, and the people that made that music mattered too. Bob Dylan was one of those people. Dylan has floated in and out of the public eye over the years, but has made somewhat of a return with the release of his 2001 album Love and Theft. He has tried to increase his current comeback, and extend his hand into another form of art, by written and staring in a new film.
Masked and Anonymous is good no matter what your opinion of Bob Dylan may be. For Dylan fans this is a tour de force of film making. Written like a Dylan epic tune, think Desolation Row, Masked stays just out of reach of the explainable. Coupled with great cameos, Val Kilmer is far and away the best of many, Masked delivers. John Goodman and Jeff Bridges hold supply the majority of the nessecary acting with Luke Wilson helping out on occasion. However this is the Wilson of Old School, and a far cry from the Wilson of the Royla Tennebaums. None of that really matters, however, because this film was made for Bob Dylan, and he is the single most important character on screen.
In Jack Fate Dylan has created a chracter that personifies his style. Fate, an aging rock star returning home for a benefit concert, symbolizes what h as become of Dylan's career as a musician. Masked isn't really the story of Bob Dylan's life, no more then any of his songs are, it can be, however, his response to what his life has been like. The story itself lacks a little and the characters are never fully defined, but like the supporting acting none of that matters. The important part of Masked and Anonymous, and the only reason it was ever made, is Bob Dylan. Taken that way, Masked and Anonymous is a truly excellent, and original, piece of film.