[rating=3.50]
First, the good news: Bob Dylan Revealed features an abundance of anecdotes certain to satisfy some of the most hard-core Dylan fans.
An interview with drummer Mickey Jones dominates the first half hour of the 112-minute film. While discussing the famous 1966 electric tour, Jones recounts critical reviews from the era that lauded Dylan’s acoustic first set only to deride the electric set played with “the band.” Because reviewers rarely referred to them by their actual name, “The Hawks,” after the tour with Dylan, they dropped the moniker and evolved into “The Band.” Jones drops a variety of interesting tidbits, from Robbie Robertson’s nickname of “The Barnacle” – since he hung around Dylan all the time – to his recollection of the “Judas!” heckle from the crowd and that it was in fact a crew member, not Dylan, who responded by telling the band, “Play fuckin’ loud!”
Additional interviews with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter proved worthwhile, and bassist Rob Stoner lent insight into the production of “Desire” and the Rolling Thunder Revue tour.
Now the not so good news: It’s a long hour and fifty-two minutes devoid of any concert footage, interviews with Dylan, or a narrator to tie it all together. After the interview with Mickey Jones (who supplied excellent video footage from the ’66 tour), the video editing becomes haphazard and almost baffling at points, with the director/producer/editor Joel Gilbert interjecting himself unnecessarily in the film, including a brief clip of him singing onstage in his very own Bob Dylan tribute band.
Okay, so that deserves another paragraph or two of explanation – Joel Gilbert is a little crazy about Dylan, and a lot crazy about some other stuff. A casual viewer of Bob Dylan Revealed will note the interviewer bears an uncanny resemblance to Dylan in the 1980s.
A quick glance at Gilbert’s past reveals a bit of an opportunist streak. Last year he produced a highly-criticized film that hypothesizes the real Paul McCartney died in 1966. This year, Bob Dylan Revealed marks his seventh Bob Dylan film with a planned release date to commemorate Dylan’s 70th birthday in May.
Gilbert’s tribute band provides the soundtrack for the film, and interviews with his band, Scarlet Rivera (violin), Winston Watson (drums), and Rob Stoner (bass)—who, to be fair, each played with Dylan—dominate the last hour or so of the film. In his spare time, Gilbert serves as contributing editor for an extreme right-wing blog, www.familysecuritymatters.org – which perhaps explains some of the film’s disproportionate focus on Dylan’s “Born Again” phase.
On content alone, Bob Dylan Revealed warrants another full star. Unfortunately a number of questionable choices in the editing and production phases mar the film to the point where it’s something you’ll want to watch, but probably not watch again.
