The movie Bob Dylan wrote and abandoned
Beyond his most associative realms of poetic lyricism and music, Bob Dylan likes to immerse himself in the movie industry and dabbles in all manner of visual art. Since the early 1960s, the Nobel laureate’s career has profited handsomely from compelling poetry often inspired by, and in turn inspiring, plots in literature and cinema. For example, Dylan’s 1986 song ‘Brownsville Girl’ drew inspiration from the classic 1950 western movie The Gunfighter.
Dylan has also had a hand in several significant movie projects, most famously writing and recording a soundtrack for the 1973 movie Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. He also showcased his acting skills in the small role of Alias, presumably a privilege offered by director Sam Peckinpah in return for Dylan’s stellar work on ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’.
With a scattering of often critically panned cinematic excursions up his sleeve, Dylan’s Hollywood dreams never really lifted off the ground. After all, his prolific music career should be enough to keep one occupied.
In a 1985 interview with Spin, Dylan revealed half-baked plans to adapt one of his recent songs into a movie plot. “‘Tight Connection to My Heart’ is a very visual song,” Dylan told Spin in a 1985 interview. “I want to make a movie out of it…. I think it’s going to go past on the way, but of all the songs I’ve ever written, that might be one of the most visual.”
Alas, this intriguing feature never saw the light of day, but Dylan returned to the drawing board for a spot of screenwriting in the early 2000s. Partnering with Larry Charles, Dylan co-wrote and starred in the 2003 western comedy movie Masked and Anonymous. Joining Dylan in the cast was the titanic collective talent of Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Jessica Lange, Luke Wilson, Val Kilmer, and Penelope Cruz.
Despite the wealth of talent attached to the project, it did very little to arouse the critics. Dylan had been enthusiastic about the movie, but he declined to watch it when it finally hit the big screen.
“Well, one of the first things he told me was, ‘I’m never going to see this movie,'” Charles told Uproxx with a chuckle in 2023. “And I understand that in a way. I don’t really look at my stuff after I’m done, either. It’s like, don’t look back. That’s his attitude, and I appreciate that because you can’t really do that much about it.”
Charles added that Dylan did eventually watch the movie many years later and seemed to enjoy it more than the critics. “Supposedly, 20 years later, he did watch it, and I was told off the record that he loved it,” Charles said. “So that’s as much as I know about that. But he told me right off the bat, ‘The people will like this movie if they get a chance to see it, but the critics are probably going to hate it.’ And he was completely right about all that stuff.”
Watch the trailer for Masked and Anonymous below.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.