I’m obviously many years removed from the height of Bob Dylan’s grip on the American Folk Revival of the mid-60’s. Hell my father, now 65, was only 6 years old when Bob Dylan famously performed “Like a Rolling Stone” at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. But, growing up in a household of deep appreciation for classic works of music, it was inevitable that the significance of Dylan’s music would reach me. Anyone who could go toe to toe with Beatlemania has to have that sort of significance. James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown afforded me the opportunity to step into the scene with Dylan in that way, seeing what made him a global superstar in an era I’d only be able to imagine if not for the footage we have.
The film starts with Dylan, portrayed masterfully by Timothée Chalamet, hitchhiking his way from Minnesota to New York City. He’s on his way to make a name for himself. That and he wants to pay a visit to his hero Woody Guthrie. He’s been hospitalized for Huntington’s Disease. Dylan meets Guthrie and, almost as if by fate, also meets Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). It’s here where we see the first of many musical numbers performed live by Chalamet, “Song To Woody”, which Dylan appropriately plays for the song’s namesake when asked to play something. This is arguably the most important of any of the film’s many renditions of classic songs. I was immediately impressed by how incredibly similar Chalamet’s singing voice is to the real deal. By the time he performed in front of Joan Baez at an open mic, I was hooked.
It’s quite impressive for a mainstream, big name actor like Chalamet to work in a film and not be recognized as “Timothée Chalamet”. No matter the skill, that sort of recognizability can be a blessing and a curse. It’s rare, then, to see someone of his magnitude disappear completely from a movie like this, with only the character emerging. Chalamet not only channels Bob Dylan: he becomes him. It’s so convincing that I really believed at times that I was watching the man himself, not a performance from an actor. That’s a real testament to the skill that Chalamet has as an actor, and also how perfect this casting is for him. Seeing he worked with the same voice coach that helped Austin Butler transform into Elvis Presley just two years ago is equally as impressive.
Peter Seeger takes the young Dylan under his wing, introducing him on open mics. It’s on these that Dylan meets a whole host of people who’d have an early influence on him. Joan Baez (played expertly by Monica Barbaro) becomes an early collaborator and Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler) gets him a deal with a record label recording covers of Folk classics. It’s also on these open mics that Dylan meets Sylvie Russo – a renamed Suze Rotolo – played by Elle Fanning and whom he begins a serious romantic relationship with. All these folks have an early impact on Dylan’s life and, as such, his music.
I was equally as impressed by the supporting cast here as I was with Chalamet’s main performance. Each does enough to stand out and impress while not taking away from the fact that this is a story about Bob Dylan. A Complete Unknown succeeds because of that. There is also a hefty focus on the music, and we get both glimpses and full performances of some of the biggest hits from Dylan’s early career. We also get to see the deep impact that his music has on the general public, so much so that he has difficulty going anywhere and achieving his artistic freedom.
But as the film wears on, I came to the realization that while the film is happy to touch on deeper aspects of Dylan, his life and the circumstances around him, it does so only as if snorkeling above it like tourists passing through. The film does a good job introducing the fact that Bob Dylan was, frankly, an asshole in this time of his life. But other than a couple brief arguments, doesn’t show the ramifications of his actions. While the film briefly shows the impact his music had on society through the cultural movements of the time (i.e. the Civil Rights Movement and the Cuban Missile Crisis), it really doesn’t explore it any deeper than brief scenes depicting the events. While it touches on the love triangle between Bob, Sylvie and Joan, it doesn’t do enough for there to be a significant emotional impact later in the film. Rather, the film progresses as a pretty standard biopic that doesn’t stray much from the formula that got films like Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book awards love. I would have liked to see it move outside the box a bit more in that regard.
What A Complete Unknown does do well is elevate “Bob Dylan” the creative to the forefront. And while I wish I had seen more of “Bob Dylan” the man, it was riveting to see the creative process of the man behind “Blowin’ In The Wind”. The film does well to depict the tepid apartment that brought out his most famous work. It properly shows Dylan’s freewheeling nature as he grinds out his early years. And it does so behind performances that stand out.
Final Thoughts
While A Complete Unknown feels like a standard biopic, it is elevated to greater heights through terrific performances, especially from Timothée Chalamet. It does more than enough to leave me thoroughly entertained. I thoroughly enjoyed acting as a fly on the wall to an era I can only imagine. It does a great job portraying such an enigmatic person as Bob Dylan. And even though it runs the normal biopic beats, I would happily watch it again.
3.5/5
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