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A good music biopic is hard to come by these days, but the Timothée Chalamet-led Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, does the job. Directed by James Mangold, who is no stranger to the genre, it is surprisingly good.
Granted, the state of the subgenre is worse than when Mangold took on Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. With movies as dull as I Wanna Dance with Somebody or as wildly stupid as Elvis, it's a miracle something like Bohemian Rhapsody got any Oscars attention.
There have been some exceptions — Rocketman's fantastical approach to telling Elton John's story was the best way of telling it. Similarly, A Complete Unknown learned from it, not using strict timelines and thus not pigeonholing itself to specific events.
A Complete Unknown depicts the rise of Bob Dylan in the early '60s. It culminates in his controversial switch to electrically amplified music with his Highway 61 Revisited album.
Chalamet will get his Oscar moment — if Rami Malek can win one for Bohemian Rhapsody, the Call Me by Your Name star should. He embodies the spirit of Dylan, from his awkward chuckle to his iconic singing voice.
But he is not the only standout. Edward Norton, who is seemingly only seen in Wes Anderson joints these days, reminds the world how good of an actor he is. Elle Fanning is the emotional anchor of the Bob Dylan biopic.
A Complete Unknown review
In 1961, Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) hitchhikes his way to New York City from across the Hudson River in New Jersey. He is searching for his hero, Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy).
After stumbling into his hospital room, Dylan meets another folk legend, Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). He plays the two of them a song, and in true music biopic fashion, he blows both of their minds.
From there, Seeger takes Dylan under his wing. Dylan begins playing small shows and recording his first album the following year. During that period, he meets Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), his primary love interest.
Also rising in the music scene at the same time are Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook). Both have impacts on Dylan in different ways.
Dylan's rise comes at you fast and furious in A Complete Unknown. Mangold's Bob Dylan biopic rarely holds itself to specific dates. Yes, it takes place from 1961-65, but several events fly by without mention of the year.
This is a storytelling mechanism used by several biopics. Given its 141-minute runtime, Mangold and co-writer Jay Cooks probably didn't need to rush through certain things like Dylan and Russo's early relationship (they meet and move in together in the blink of an eye in the movie).
A Complete Unknown isn't interested in showing the making of the famous Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album (Chalamet walks around with a guitar for most of the movie, randomly playing the hits throughout). Instead, its first half is more interested in a bubbling love triangle.
A love triangle
When Dylan meets Baez, something brews between them. However, he is still dating Sylvie at the time. This is where Fanning becomes the emotional anchor of A Complete Unknown.
Some moments are a bit on the nose — listen to the lyrics being sung when Sylvie comes to the realization that his relationship with Dylan is over — but her eyes do the heavy lifting in her performance.
Realizing that a relationship is over and having to grapple with that has to be hard. Sylvie uses the metaphor of the plate spinner from the circus to describe her relationship with Dylan. She is held at arm's length by Dylan and pulled in when convenient for him.
If one thing is certain, it's that James Mangold isn't afraid to make the subjects of his music biopics look like jerks. Like he did with Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, Bob Dylan spends most of A Complete Unknown alienating everyone who loved him.
Similar to Sylvie, you see Seeger, who arguably helped create the person Dylan became, become distanced from the “Blowin' in the Wind” singer. As they say, actions have consequences.
For Norton, he gives everything to his performance as the soft-spoken Seeger. The performance, while not too dissimilar to his performance as Scout Master Randy Ward in Moonrise Kingdom, is a stark reminder of how good he is as an actor.
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A Complete Unknown sometimes feels like a cameo-filled love letter to the '60s. Seeing Dylan interact with Boyd Holbrook's Johnny Cash, which may be more convincing than Joaquin Phoenix's previous performance as the Man in Black, Guthrie, Baez, and other music legends, is like Spider-Man: No Way Home for adults.
Timothée Chalamet's Oscar-worthy performance as Bob Dylan
Doing biopics is a great way to earn brownie points with the Academy (maybe that's why Chalamet also produced A Complete Unknown). It is far from guaranteed that Chalamet will win for his performance as Dylan, but it wouldn't be undeserved.
Most of the attention will go to his singing. Granted, Chalamet really committed to the role, playing guitar, piano, and harmonica like the singer.
Does he always sound exactly like Dylan? No. But his singing performance isn't a cheap impersonation of Dylan, which is half the battle. There is only one Bob Dylan, and A Complete Unknown doesn't try to challenge that.
Like Dylan tells his band at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, Mangold plays the music loud in A Complete Unknown. The crescendo of the movie, Dylan's performance of “Like a Rolling Stone” at Newport, is rousing. The music boomed through the theater's speakers and immersed you in the controversial performance.
Chalamet has recently been expanding his portfolio. His roles in Dune, The French Dispatch, Don't Look Up, and Wonka all offer something different. Playing Bob Dylan doesn't give Timothée Chalamet the charisma of Wonka or the comedy of his character in Don't Look Up. But A Complete Unknown offers his most unique performance to date.
Should you watch a Complete Unknown?
Sometimes, less is more. As Seeger advises Dylan, “A good song can do it without the thrills.” A Complete Unknown isn't as fantastical as Rocketman or blindly ambitious as Elvis, but its grounded approach works for its subject.
Bob Dylan is an enigma. He is one of the most complicated figures in music history. Only Mangold could tell his story, which doesn't always depict Dylan kindly. That speaks to Dylan's disdain for being famous — he allegedly added a completely fictional scene in A Complete Unknown (I have a few theories as to which scene it is).
One thing A Complete Unknown is willing to show is Dylan's reluctance to become famous. He didn't realize what he was in for when he was a kid traveling to meet Guthrie. By the end, he is a hardened soul in the music industry.
Timothée Chalamet does some of the best work of his career in the Bob Dylan biopic. It would be shocking if he does not receive an Oscar nomination for his role. But Fanning and Norton should also be in the conversation in the Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories.
Grade: A-
A Complete Unknown will be released on December 25.
