Artist biopics, particularly those of musical artists, often cannot avoid the tiresome tropes and cliches of the subgenre. By now, James Mangold is entirely aware of this problem. After all, the filmmaker made a solid film with his Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line. However, that movie has flaws and missteps, and the biopic spoof Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story had a field day of ridiculing these tropes and cliches.
Well, thankfully, Mangold and his screenwriter Jay Cocks learned a valuable lesson from Walk Hard. The filmmakers made a valiant effort to avoid these problems and simply recreate a historical era in pop culture history. A Complete Unknown is not a comprehensive presentation of Bob Dylan’s life so far but focuses on his rise as a folk singer who eventually wanted to branch out and make rock music. The movie follows Dylan on this journey and does a great job.
Timothée Chalamet stars as Bob Dylan, a talented songwriter/musician who would eventually become a rock legend. The movie begins with Dylan’s arrival in New York City, where he wishes to make a name for himself as a folk singer/songwriter. Veteran folk singer Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) recognizes how talented Bob is and helps him launch his career. Though Dylan achieves much success and admiration among the folk music fans, the artist eventually wants more and desires not to be labeled only as a folk artist. Meanwhile, we get to witness Dylan’s messy personal life, as he has a romance with both his girlfriend, Silvie Russo (Elle Fanning), and folk colleague, Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro).
To clarify, I must state that this movie doesn’t have anything to say about Bob Dylan that his diehard fans don’t already know. There have been a few documentaries such as D.A. Pennybaker’s Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back and Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan, which offer greater insight into an artist obsessed with his work and the desire to rebel against labels and being pigeon-holed. Nevertheless, this cinematic treatment of Dylan’s story is a great experience. Mangold and his crew do a fantastic job of recreating the scenes where Dylan and his contemporaries created art and performed. The film feels like a beautiful time capsule of a legendary time in music history.
I was also greatly impressed with the performances of the entire cast, particularly Chalamet, Norton, and Barbaro, who all transform into folk music legends. I was especially blown away by Chalamet, who sounds like Dylan when he talks and performs as beautifully as Bob when singing and playing the guitar and harmonica. The movie also features great supporting turns by Elle Fanning, Boyd Holbrook (Johnny Cash), Scoot McNairy (Woody Guthrie), and Dan Fogler (Albert Grossman).
So it comes with much relief that A Complete Unknown is not a total disaster but a lovely recreation of Dylan’s folk era. Many Dylan fans are probably anxious about this movie, but rest assured; it is a worthy biopic of the legendary artist himself. I highly recommend A Complete Unknown, which will open in theaters on December 25.