‘A Complete Unknown’ Review – Timothee Chalamet As Bob Dylan Going Electric With Plenty Of Boogaloo
I caught this one later than I could’ve – and probably should’ve – but its participation in award season (which nobody really cares about, especially not now, but still) earns A Complete Unknown a fair bit of attention including mine, and not for nothing. I enjoyed this movie as a music fan and history geek even if I’m not in the age range it is aimed at.
RELATED: ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Review – More Like New World Boredom
A biopic, obviously, the film tells the story of Bob Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) early in his career leading up to the concert in Rhode Island where he trespassed against the socially conscious folk scene of the 1960s by having the gall to go electric. It’s a pretty famous moment or infamous depending on how you view things.
However, that specific event is only a small part of the 141 minutes. A Complete Unknown mostly deals with Dylan as an eccentric outlier to folk music, even when he holds the line and plays acoustic. One whose interpersonal relationships were made all the more difficult by his fickle, aloof, and disagreeable tendencies. You know, just like a typical rock star.
The biggest toll is taken on the women in his life whether referring to a serious girlfriend like Sylvie (his better half throughout most of the film played by Elle Fanning who’s also meant to mirror Dylan’s real-life partner Suze Rotolo), or a professional pairing that turns into a fling as it does with Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro). They both end up hating his guts eventually because they know what it is like to live with him away from the stage.
But the biggest challenge he faces is the gatekeepers of folk music, some of whom are Dylan’s closest friends and supporters. Pete Seeger (Ed Norton) invites Bob to stay with his family, and they both visit the ailing Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), often serenading him to the annoyance of hospital staff. They are thick as thieves, but playing an electric guitar at a social justice folk festival is tantamount to treason. Dylan isn’t simply selling out; he’s committing an excommunicable offense.
If you know your history, you know what happens. Friends and artistic purity be damned – Dylan and his band play a set with electric accompaniment. Years and years later, they are vindicated by critical acclaim, record sales, and legendary status. Other than Dylan’s ambition to break from tradition, you can thank Johnny Cash (played here by Boyd Holbrook in unexpectedly perfect casting).
RELATED: ‘Brave the Dark’ Review – A Familiar Story With A Bogus Title
Complete Unknown is nominated everywhere, in every possible category, including for the Oscars. It is also getting lost in the shuffle and that’s a shame when the movie has everything on the screen going for it. The acting is great, the period design is on point, the cinematography is under control, and how good the soundtrack is should go without saying.
Timothee Chalamet could win the Best Actor Oscar just for showing up even if he did nothing else for two hours. I saw him up there on screen and made a mental note of who he was, but he disappeared into the role of Dylan very quickly. His resemblance to the singer is uncanny but he mastered the mannerisms and voice pretty well too. Mostly, I couldn’t tell the difference.
Scoot McNairy is another highlight who proves how versatile he is. People who only see him in supporting film roles every so often might underestimate him, but anyone who remembers his run on Halt and Catch Fire knows how well McNairy can hold his own. In this film, he crosses a new Rubicon as a seriously ill Guthrie showing life and personality without saying a single word and by gesturing or knocking on stuff.
Everything is so put together and a return to roots for director James Mangold that I get the feeling Complete Unknown was designed as a redemption arc. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was his last film, and as proud as he may (hypothetically) be of that, it can’t be something he wants people to think of when his name comes up. Heading into Swamp Thing and the DCU, Mangold definitely wants a win. What better than another Best Picture or Best Director trophy?
Giving him his flowers could also bail the Academy out of the awkward situation they find themselves in with Emilia Pérez. As that debacle blows up in their collective faces, they have an opportunity to break glass and grab A Complete Unknown to play like an ace up their sleeve. It’s easier to take seriously, is a far better musical, and is prime nostalgia bait for Boomers who eat this stuff up for breakfast with their medication. Giving it all the awards would be a win-win scenario and one of the easiest lay-ups ever handed to Hollywood.
On top of it all, the movie is actually good, which is an increasingly rare thing.
READ NEXT: ‘The Last Showgirl’ Review – The Show’s Over, Pam, Go Home
A Complete Unknown
PROS
- Casting and acting, especially Chalamet
- The Music
- Perfectly captures the period
- Cinematography is smooth and unobtrusive
CONS
- The phrase "social justice" comes up, though only at the end
- The appeal might be higher among Boomers
More About:Movie Reviews
Read this Next
