- Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Boyd Holbrook, Elle Fanning
- January 17th 2025
- 140
- James Mangold
Timothée Chalamet plays singer-songwriter Bob Dylan as he arrives on the New York folk scene in the 1960s.
How do you make a biopic about a reclusive and mystery musician? James Mangold tries to wrangle with that notion with his Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown.
Instead of covering the entirety of Dylan’s life and career, like most biopics, this drama focuses on a specific time period: 1961 to 1965.
It begins when the Blowin’ in the Wind singer arrives in New York City and follows him as he makes a name for himself on the folk scene and befriends the likes of Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) before culminating in his controversial electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
Director and co-writer Mangold, adapting Elijah Wald’s book Going Electric, does a solid job of making a biopic about such an enigmatic musician.
You don’t come away from A Complete Unknown feeling like you have a real understanding of Dylan but that’s hardly a surprise considering the man himself doesn’t want the public to know him in a deep meaningful way.
However, because he’s so aloof and unknowable, he remains at a distance from the audience and it’s hard to feel anything for him.
Chalamet is extraordinary as Dylan and deserves all of the awards buzz. His dedication, commitment and passion for the project really shines through and the six years he spent preparing for the role really pay off.
He sings live and plays guitar and harmonica in character as Dylan on set – which is a feat in itself – even sounds quite like him.
While the accuracy is impressive, it is admittedly quite hard to understand what he’s saying at times.
While Chalamet is the clear star of the show, his female co-stars deserve more recognition for their work.
Elle Fanning is the beating heart of the film as Dylan’s first New York girlfriend Sylvie Russo (based on Suze Rotolo) who becomes increasingly sidelined as he finds fame and starts sleeping with Baez.
Like Chalamet, Barbaro also learned how to sing and play guitar like her character on set and she does all that plus gives us extra emotional depth as Baez.
By the very nature of its subject, A Complete Unknown isn’t the most satisfying biographical drama. However, it is still a joy to see Chalamet, Barbaro and Fanning work their magic.
In cinemas from Friday 17th January.
By Hannah Wales.
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