The title of the skillfully made Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, is appropriate, because traces the short road Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) took from traditional folk singer (performing mostly covers) to acclaimed singer/songwriter to groundbreaking rock performer in the space of a little more than four years.
Adapted from the book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald by director James Mangold (Walk the Line, Logan, 3:10 to Yuma) and Jay Cocks, the movie begins in January 1961. That year, Dylan travels to New York City from Minnesota at age 19 and wanders into a hospital to meet his hero, Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). Guthrie was then in the early stages of Huntington’s disease, unable to play but still somewhat communicative.
It just so happens that Guthrie’s good friend Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) is visiting him that day as well, so Dylan gets to play his tribute “Song to Woody” for both men. In that brief moment, they both recognize that someone special has made his way into their lives. As if it were preordained, Dylan begins performing at Bleecker Street folk clubs in New York and meeting folk luminaries like Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro). He also falls for a regular of the folk scene, Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning, playing a renamed version of Dylan’s real-life girlfriend at the time, Suze Rotolo). Sylvie inspires and advises him, while also stabilizing him in moments when his rapid ascent into fame begins to overwhelm him.
Dylan also gets a manager, Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler) and forms early friendships and alliances with the likes of Johnny Cash (an almost unrecognizable Boyd Holbrook), who push Dylan to be himself and take his music wherever it leads him, even if that means recording and performing with a fully electric rock band. There are those who see this transition as a betrayal, including many that run the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan plays solo and with Baez for several years running. When 1965 arrives and he decides to do a short electric set, the audience goes a little nuts—some in favor of the change, some very much protesting it.
Everyone in the here cast is exceptional, but when you realize that Chalamet is singing and playing everything live, it’s almost unbelievable that he could capture this icon so completely at such a specific time in his life (the only time we hear actual Dylan music is once during the end credits). Dylan was in his early 20s during this time, and the idea that these poetic, lyrical songs were composed by someone who had barely lived yet is remarkable. Mangold doesn’t attempt to explain Dylan or break through his mystique more than absolutely necessary. He wants Dylan’s attitude about everything from creativity to women to be a bit oblique. But it’s also fairly clear that Dylan simply has no idea how to behave in certain circumstances, and so his charm and manner simply shut down for extended periods as a defense mechanism.
All of that being said, if you cut this movie a little differently, it becomes as much Seeger’s story as Dylan's. Seeger has as much, if not more, of a story arc as Dylan here as he witnesses his sacred and pure folk music turn into something else in Dylan’s hands—something more, even—and Seeger’s reaction is a blend of awe and envy. Seeger wants his friend to do well, but if that happens by going electric and he’s successful, it makes Seeger a dinosaur. As mentioned, the film culminates with Dylan’s earth-shattering 1965 performance at Newport, and the result is chaos—some cheers, many boos, and director Mangold presents the event like a small-scale revolution, which it was in many ways.
The film’s costuming, production design, and styling are all exceptional, but it’s the performances from Chalamet, Norton, Barbaro, and Holbrook that are the core of A Complete Unknown. Fanning’s work is far more understated, but no less important, as she guides without pushing and allows herself to be heartbroken because being close to genius is understandably intoxicating. The film is one of the better music biopics I’ve ever seen (since Walk the Line, if I’m being honest), and Chalamet has gone from being a fresh young face to a seasoned actor in a single year (his work in Dune: Part 2 is a grown-up performance as well, despite the fantastical setting).
So much of this film is praise worthy and awards worthy, and it’s a great way to cap off a wild 2024.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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