It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why “A Complete Unknown” is expected to scoop up its fair share of nominations for this year’s Oscars ceremony. Director James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic has a lot of ground to cover, retelling the birth and growth of Dylan’s career, which now spans over six decades. Starring Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, the film’s all-star cast and meticulous attention to the details of Dylan’s legacy lead it to success.
As a personal aside, Dylan was the artist who defined my 2024. After years of being curious about his lyricism but too put off by his voice to listen beyond “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Mr. Tambourine Man,” I finally dove deep into his 1960s discography in January 2024. He’s an acquired taste for sure, and it took a couple of albums for his style to click with me, but once it did, I was hooked. Needless to say, I went into “A Complete Unknown” as a Dylan fan.
“A Complete Unknown” chronicles the early years of Dylan’s career, beginning with his arrival in New York City in 1961 and leading up to his now-infamous performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where he “went electric,” abandoning his acoustic guitar for a full rock band. After his meteoric rise from nobody troubadour to folk hero, the film focuses on Dylan’s struggle with being the “voice of a generation” — a title he despised in real life. Dylan’s efforts to break free from being what other people want him to be lead him down an uncertain road, polarizing his audience but becoming a folk rock icon in the process.
The performances are easily the standout aspect of “A Complete Unknown.” Chalamet delivers a fantastic and deeply committed performance as Dylan, nailing his voice, guitar playing and even some of his most subtle mannerisms. Through five years of preparation and three months of filming, Chalamet made painstaking efforts to immerse himself in the role by keeping a closed set, having his fellow cast and crew call him “Bob” and meticulously learning every song in the film on guitar and harmonica. The result is a performance that does Dylan all the justice he deserves.
As devoted as Chalamet’s performance is, there’s no denying that his co-stars elevate the cast to another level. Edward Norton is an absolute win as Pete Seeger, bringing a hearty and nuanced performance that redefines Seeger’s role in Dylan’s career. Monica Barbaro also gives a wonderful performance as Joan Baez, capturing how Baez was drawn to Dylan but unwilling to put up with his frequent rude and manipulative behavior. The offbeat chemistry between Chalamet and Barbaro mirrors Dylan and Baez’s real-life, on-again-off-again romance, and the palpable tension between them in the film’s latter half is expertly handled.
Unfortunately, some of the characterizations fall flat. Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) is clearly based on Suze Rotolo, Dylan’s girlfriend in the early ’60s, but the film drastically undersells her impact on Dylan’s life and lyricism. In reality, Rotolo was heavily politically involved, being a child of Communist Party USA members during the era of McCarthyism. Though Russo’s political engagement is referenced, her characterization can mostly be summed up as “Dylan’s girlfriend” — yet another instance of integral female supporting characters being unjustly sidelined.
Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) also doesn’t quite get his dues, appearing in a few scenes that are admittedly entertaining but add little more than comic relief or spectacle. Fanning and Holbrook do their best with the screen time they are given, but their characters ultimately feel like caricatures of the real people they’re portraying.
“A Complete Unknown” also uses Dylan’s songs to tell the story of his rise to fame, and performances of his songs make up the majority of the runtime. Unlike some biopics, the songs are performed by the actors themselves. Through these performances, each cast member does an exceptional job capturing the spirit of the music. The choice to perform everything live was a daring move, but it authentically captures the atmosphere of the ’60s folk and rock scenes.
Like most biopics, “A Complete Unknown” has its fair share of scenes that are exaggerated, moved around in the timeline or blatantly false. Most of these changes surround Dylan’s life intersecting with the other characters, but liberties like these are to be expected of a biopic, especially one about a man infamous for telling tall tales to the press. In fact, Dylan allegedly added a completely fabricated scene himself, though which scene this is remains up to speculation. This does not ultimately detract from the film, but it can be distracting for devoted fans.
Despite its best intentions, “A Complete Unknown” is unfortunately held back from true greatness by the limitations of the biopic genre. As is the case with most biopics, the film, at times, feels like it is simply going through the motions, jumping from one iconic moment to the next with little reflection on what any of it means. The result is a final product that feels too straightforward. Though this is to be expected from the genre at this point, it is rather ironic that “A Complete Unknown” barely pushes the boundaries of its genre when the central narrative is about Dylan breaking free of the limits that others try to place on him.
I didn’t know about “A Complete Unknown” until after my Dylan obsession began, but closing out the year with it was a full-circle moment. As such, I think it’s worth considering what both fans and general audiences will get out of the film. For anyone already well-versed in Dylan’s career, the film is a lot of fun, but they won’t learn anything new about the songwriter.
If fans want a deeper exploration of who Dylan is, they should look no further than Todd Haynes’ 2007 film “I’m Not There.” It’s my Dylan film of choice, and though it’s nothing short of genius, it’s also not exactly approachable for general audiences. After a deep dive into Dylan’s life and music, though, it’s an exceptional watch.
Audiences who are new to Dylan are better off turning to D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 film “Dont Look Back” or Martin Scorsese’s “No Direction Home” from 2005, two documentaries that provide more context about Dylan in the ’60s. Even so, “A Complete Unknown” has the potential to fill the void as an approachable theatrical Dylan film. It might not be the most ambitious or accurate rendition of Dylan’s rise to fame, but it’s a satisfying one all the same. If it succeeds in introducing audiences to the captivating and poetic world of his life and music, that’s good enough for me.
