Masked and Anonymous stars Bob Dylan as Jack Fate, a rebel musician whose fame still enchants many in a fictional, near future, America in which the land of the free has become a Hispanicized Third World dictatorship.  Sprung from jail to perform at a charity benefit organised by Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman) and Nina Veronica (Jessica Lange), Fate encounters a succession of characters: New Age mystics, misanthropes, politicians, journalists, hustlers, entrepreneurs and fans.  The bitterness and disappointment of these people contrast to Fate’s calm acceptance of the end of the American dream.

The causes of America’s fall are not explained, but elements of the back-story are suggested by scenery, props and the condition of the characters.  Gates and walls, patrolled by armed guards recruited from ethnic minorities, are ubiquitous, as are the homeless poor.  Squalor, the powerlessness of ordinary people and the thuggery of business and politics is explicit.  A connection between illegal immigration and political change is hinted in a throw-away line by Edmund (Mickey Rourke), the successor to the dying President, Fate’s estranged father.

Though the narrative of Masked and Anonymous is weak, its strengths (dialogue, performances, music) outweigh this.  Fate’s gnomic chatter captures the essence of a man without hope or fear, an exemplary stoic, forever out of step with power but always his own man.  His world view is summed up thus:

"I was always a singer and maybe no more then that. Sometimes it's not enough to know the meaning of things, sometimes we have to know what things don't mean as well. Like what does it mean to not know what the person you love is capable of? Things fall apart, especially all the neat order of rules and laws. The way we look at the world is the way we really are. See it from a fair garden and everything looks cheerful. Climb to a higher plateau and you'll see plunder and murder. Truth and beauty are in the eye of the beholder. I stopped trying to figure everything out a long time ago."

The other characters also get the opportunity to deliver pithy lines on the American condition and on life itself.  Snatches of Spanish dialogue complement covers of Dylan’s hits by a range of international artists, helping to convey a sense of what America might be like once its cultural coherence has eroded.  Musical performances by Dylan and his band evoke the failures and joys of the counter-culture.  Jerry Garcia’s cover of Senor fits in perfectly on the soundtrack, given the prophetic qualities of the lyrics.  Other highlights include a haunting rendition of Blowing in the Wind by a small black girl.  Director and script-writer Larry Charles (of Seinfeld fame) toys with themes of loss and nostalgia, but its exuberant irony and abundant satire make Masked and Anonymous much more complex than a simple lament for the irrecoverable past.

Masked and Anonymous is one of the most fully realised visions of the future in years. It is certainly the most plausible account of dystopia ever filmed.   Like Bladerunner, portions of the politics on offer are ambiguous, given the liberal sympathies of the director.  Diversity as nightmare and the threat of deracination is a stock in trade of reactionary dystopias.  Perhaps sensing this, Charles avoids the theme of racial conflict entirely, preferring to hint that in the mestizaje future class will be the pre-eminent issue.  This wishful thinking is the only false note in the film, though the ubiquitous posters of the President are distinctly unconvincing: as Peter Viereck noted a generation ago, American fascism will not reproduce the mock-heroic and military touches of European fascism, but will rely on indigenous traditions of deference to technocracy and the calming aesthetic of the TV talk-show.

Bob Dylan is perfectly cast as the heroic outsider, half guru, half bum.   Dylan’s fans will delight in his quiet self-mockery and in the dialogue, much of which is as enigmatic as his famous lyrics.  The cast includes a range of Hollywood stars: Jeff Bridges, Steven Bauer, Penelope Cruz, Jessica Lange, Ed Harris, Giovanni Ribisi, Bruce Dern, Fred Ward, Chris Penn, Christopher Slater, Val Kilmer, Luke Wilson and Angela Bassett.  Some are wasted in weird cameos, but most give outstanding performances.

Masked and Anonymous is an enchanting film that deserves a much wider audience than it has so far received.  Larry Charles has made a vivid and challenging film that will strike many as timely.