Masked and Anonymous
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Anesthetizing drama set in a war-torn, Third World country under dictatorial rule in which a concert promoter (John Goodman) springs a has-been musician (Bob Dylan) from jail to perform at a benefit concert. With pretentious and self-consciously cute dialogue, director Larry Charles' film lacks cohesion as the ensemble cast meanders through an incoherent script that purports to make a sociopolitical statement, but instead bores with its meaningless platitudes and diatribes. Brief violence, minimal crass language and an instance of profanity and rough language. A-II -- adults and adolescents. (PG-13) 2003.
Full Review
A has-been musician is sprung from jail for a benefit concert in a war-torn Third World country in the anesthetizing drama "Masked and Anonymous" (Sony Classics).
Harking back to the rock 'n' roll movies of the 1970s, this ensemble piece is like a narcissistic trip down memory lane. A very mediocre movie, "Masked and Anonymous" boasts a huge cast (20-plus) of talented actors who are by no means at the top of their game.
Allegedly the brainchild of musician Bob Dylan and Larry Charles, who also directs, the film is incoherent and meandering. It attempts to make a sociopolitical statement, but instead bores with its meaningless platitudes and diatribes about the plight of the oppressed and the existential meaning of life. The dialogue is pretentious and self-consciously cute, making the exchanges between the actors unnatural. It is laced with assertions that sound vaguely religious, yet carry no real meaning whatsoever.
Dylan stars as Jake Fate, a singer past his prime whom the scheming concert promoter Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman) has cajoled into doing a benefit concert -- after he gets Fate out of jail, of course. The proceeds of the concert will supposedly go toward medical relief for the unnamed country under the rule of the harsh dictator who jailed Fate in the first place.
Dylan, with a droopy-eyed, glazed look, doesn't register on screen. The actors around him seem almost frenetic as they try to elicit some reaction from the singer whose facial features change only slightly when he sings. Goodman, Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange are overbearing; Penelope Cruz, Val Kilmer and Giovanni Ribisi are frightening instead of pitiable in their parts as wackos looking for healing.
Charles, known for his work on television's "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm," is out of his league in his first go-round as a film director. He cannot bring the disparate pieces together to make a distinct or consistently interesting film. For example, the audience learns that Fate had a twin brother who mysteriously disappeared and that he is the son of the nation's dictator. Yet none of this makes any sense, which ironically, is in keeping with the rest of the film that also makes little sense.
Because of brief violence, minimal crass language and an instance of profanity and rough language, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.