At first glance, you might not have guessed behind the sunglasses, bushy hair and general shaggy appearance that it was Timothée Chalamet playing the iconic, eccentric Bob Dylan. Yet, for the nearly two and a half hours that is “A Complete Unknown,” Chalamet transforms and teleports viewers back to the 1960s for the birth of this folk and rock legend’s career in a biopic that beautifully honors Dylan’s early discography while attempting to dramatize his personal life.
“A Complete Unknown” is based on the 2015 biography by Elijah Wald: “Dylan Goes Electric: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties.” The film covers four crucial years in Dylan’s life, beginning with his first visit to Woody Guthrie in the hospital and building toward the shocking moment he ditched his acoustic guitar for an electric one at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
Chalamet’s performance is by far the biggest praise for this movie, nailing all aspects of Dylan’s character from his quirky, impolite manner to his signature grating voice. Chalamet also beautifully shows the effortlessness of Dylan’s genius through the nonchalant way lyrics and melodies almost spill out of him.
While mainly focusing on Dylan’s rise to fame, the movie also follows his love life. First, viewers are introduced to the fictional character Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), who serves as a proxy for Dylan’s real lover and muse, Suze Rotolo. But a messy overlap soon unfolds between Dylan and folk singer Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro). The movie builds up a love triangle with Baez serving as “the other woman” and Russo feeling jealous of their chemistry on stage.
These scenes of lovers’ quarrels and romantic conflict fall short of evoking strong emotion because the plotline comes secondary to the music in the movie. Most of the movie’s scenes are short and only feature quick snippets of dialogue, so the romance is fueled more by longing looks from the stage to the audience than actual conversation. At the end of the movie comes what is supposed to be a profound moment between Russo and Dylan, but the drama feels rushed, and I found myself uninvested.
Choppy, uninteresting scenes seem to be a throughline in the film. While there are moments Chalamet is captivating, other scenes fall flat and the plot is boring at times. The constant jumps from scene to scene help things move quickly but leave viewers less concerned with the storyline and just excited to hear the next Dylan hit.
Aside from Chalamet’s performance, the music of the film is the other clear standout. The singing impressions from Chalamet, Barbaro and Edward Norton as Pete Seeger are impeccable. They put me on the edge of my seat any time I heard a guitar chord strum or the harmonica play.
While I entered the movie as an appreciator of Dylan’s talent, I left much more eager to keep listening to his discography, adding songs I’d just heard to current playlists of mine. The movie clearly shows the impact of his words in the political climate of the 1960s, but modern audiences can also connect with Dylan’s music through this film. Every time Chalamet would sing, I felt moved by his words, which I imagine was the point: to emphasize the meaning of Dylan’s work.
“A Complete Unknown” just received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Chalamet for Best Actor. Currently, Chalamet is my personal frontrunner for that award. While I don’t know if “A Complete Unknown” was my favorite movie of the past year, I feel it does accomplish its goal of telling the origin story of the beloved American artist and allowing all generations to get the chance to connect with Dylan’s ever-powerful lyrics.
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
—Reel Thoughts: ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ features unique premise but lacks exhilaration
—Reel Thoughts: Sex might sell, but ‘Babygirl’ plays it too safe
—Reel Thoughts: ‘Wicked’ is everything it needed to be — and for everyone
