StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Charles Herold (cherold) Towards the end of Don't Look Back, a reporter asks a babbling, pretentious, possibly stoned Bob Dylan how much of what he says he actually means. While Dylan blows up at the reporter, the question is central to the movie, which portrays a young, arrogant, brilliant folk singer playing music and arguing with people.At times it all seems like a put on, with Dylan poking and prodding people just to see how they'll react. He let's everyone know that he doesn't really care what anyone thinks, yet at times you can see how concerned he is with his own image. Dylan is contrary, but he has something to say, both in his songs and in moments like a weird argument with some guy about whether Dylan should take an interest in this guy.The movie also has his posse, most notably a young Joan Baez who seems like a lot more fun than her woke-Madonna persona lead me to believe.This is cinema verite, which means it just tosses a bunch of stuff at the viewer and lets them sort it out. Dylan pontificating, Dylan's manager negotiating payment, Dylan on stage, singing almost invariably with less passion than when he's singing offstage. It's an interesting movie, although I'm not sure how interesting one would find it without a preceding interest in Dylan.

bettycjung 9/6/17. If you like Bob Dylan you will love this. If you don't know who Bob Dylan is you should watch this. This documentary provides a behind- the-scenes look at this iconic balladeer. He was the voice for a whole generation - the Baby Boomers. But, his songs and lyrics still resonate today.

billcr12 Bob Dylan is the ideal subject for a documentary. He knows how to play to the cameras, and although his arrogance is legendary, so is his talent as a songwriter. His catalogue is unbelievable, and Don't Look Back follows him on tour in England in 1965, at the early part of his career. Joan Baez and Donovan are seen performing off the cuff, in a hotel room with Dylan smoking a cigarette and typing lyrics on a manual typewriter. The ease with which he composes songs is a marvel to watch. A British reporter has the misfortune of interviewing Bob at a press conference, and he is skewered by the young ànd brash American. My favorite line is when Bobby utters the phrase, "give the anarchist a cigarette" a reference to media descriptions of him. The voice of a generation sings at Royal Albert Hall, and he is mesmerizing. The word genius is too often used to describe an artist, but it is appropriate in the case of Mr. Dylan.

bandw This behind the scenes documentary of Dylan's 1965 England tour presents him in a rather unflattering light. The scenes that have Dylan and his crew talking among themselves show them to be no more interesting or insightful conversationalists than your average college students. Dylan often comes off as arrogant and contemptuous and it is not always easy to simply mark it down to youth and living in a bubble at such a young age. But, sometimes you can understand his outrage when he gets a question like the one from a Time Magazine reporter, "Do you care about what you sing?" But often Dylan tries to be purposely obtuse and unnecessarily argumentative. I found the most interesting conversation to be between Dylan and the student journalist Terry Ellis (aka "The Science Student"). Dylan actually seemed to be engaged by him to the point of asking him meaningful questions. And on occasion during that conversation it looked like Dylan was having a bit of fun, and not totally at Ellis' expense.Dylan's manager Albert Grossman has one scene where he behaves like a total ass by shouting obscenities at the hotel staff when they ask that the noise in the room be dialed back. In another scene Grossman is seen pulling all the tricks in the book to get a maximum concert fee, but maybe that is what good managers do.There are some highlights like Joan Baez relaxing in a hotel room and singing "Percy's Song" and then her being joined by Dylan to sing "Lost Highway." There is a segment that has Dylan playing solo piano in his room that I quite liked. But, in general I felt I had to wade through a lot of less interesting stuff to get to the good stuff, and most of the good stuff was the music.Maybe this film loses some of its impact some forty years on, but director Pennebaker did not invent the use of hand-held cameras or the grainy black and white, low-budget look and feel that some seem to credit him with.Dylan only seems relaxed and enjoying himself when he is involved with music. Perhaps it is indeed the case that an artist's work is most always better than what the artist is as a person.This film provides an interesting counterpoint to Scorsese's "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan."