A Complete Unknown (2024) review

Dir. James Mangold

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

A Bob Dylan biopic was always going to be as strong as two major facets: the quality of the actor playing the beloved singer-songwriter and the period on which it focuses. In a year of terribly weak musical biopics such as Bob Marley: One Love and Back to Black, which appeared tailormade to assist deceased artists’ streaming numbers and sales of new vinyl pressings, A Complete Unknown revolves around Dylan’s ascension in the 1960s, climaxing with him abandoning his acoustic sound in favor of electric in 1965.

From very early on, it’s clear that a veteran filmmaker is behind A Complete Unknown. The film is directed by James Mangold, a pro at the biopic game. You could argue Walk the Line set the contemporary bar for the genre, and simultaneously opened the floodgates for a deluge of other, similar works. Here, Mangold’s style is gentle and unhurried. It seamlessly establishes the 1960s as a time that could segue from relaxed to tumultuous with the drop of a hat. It also finds itself hyper-fixated on the interpersonal dynamics of its characters, rendering its lengthy runtime (141 minutes) justified.

The film opens with the sweet sounds of Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), a huge influence on a young Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet), who drifts and rifts his way around the east coast after leaving his home-state of Minnesota. Dylan finally gets to meet Guthrie in a hospital, where he’s also visited by the legendary Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), in 1961. Seeger encourages Dylan to play a tune, and the nonverbal, ailing Guthrie is smitten.

The opening scene truly sets the tone for A Complete Unknown. Merely a handful of Dylan’s rich catalog is showcased, but each song is afforded its ability to breathe in its entirety, with Dylan’s songwriting proclivity revealing itself. This isn’t a montage-laden biopic where one of his greatest hits scores an assembly of scenes that tell a story in fast-forward; nor is it the type to show Dylan noodling on his guitar and suggesting he stumbled his way into a ballad as pivotal as “Blowin’ in the Wind.” As much as Mangold (who wrote the screenplay with Jay Cocks) relies on the actual lyrics of Dylan, he relies on his talented performers. More on them in a minute.

Seeger ends up letting Dylan crash on his family couch. Eventually, he meets Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), who is supposed to be Suze Rotolo, the woman on the cover of Dylan’s second album. Sylvie is kind and loyal despite her partner’s propensity to be reserved and unfaithful. Also vying yet loathing the singer-songwriter is Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), whose flowery brand of folk music contrasts with the grittier style Dylan embraces. The two balk at one another in the middle of their duets.

Mangold and Cocks find elegant ways to incorporate Dylan’s music into the perfect settings. Consider the sequence where the news sends the public into a panic over the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is the same time Dylan plays “Masters of War” in a club; Joan wanders down the stairs after packing her apartment and sees Dylan simultaneously unaffected by the news and absorbed, along with dozens of others, in his songs, which are very affected by the happenings of the world. Another comes during the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan debuts “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” By the middle of the second verse, the adoring crowd is singing back to Dylan, throwing their fists in the air in support. It’s urgent and authentic.

It also wouldn’t be half as moving if Chalamet wasn’t, again, so damn good as Dylan. He isn’t concerned with directly emulating the artist’s propensity to mumble his words yet sing his lyrics with a clear yet reedy disposition. Apparently, Chalamet worked with the same vocal/singing coach Austin Butler used for Elvis. The payoff is immense as Chalamet exudes the mystery wrapped in a riddle that ultimately is and has always been Bob Dylan.

I am done doubting the 28-year-old’s ability. I’ve seen him convincingly play a cannibal, a youthful and ambitious candyman, an effective Woody Allen stand-in, and now, a generational musical icon. The guy doesn’t miss, and is infuriatingly attractive while doing it.

Chalamet is also surrounded by a roster of talent from across generations. Norton’s portrayal of Seeger is fatherly and kind; in some ways, he’s the true soul of the film, especially seeing as its subject is enigmatic. He’s understated so much so that he even voices his dislike for Dylan’s decision to adopt an electric guitar by relaying a metaphor he calls the “parable of the teaspoons.” Fanning is delightful as Sylvie, who has a phenomenal moment with Chalamet between the gates of a ferry dock that emphasizes the sadness and isolation that has defined their relationship. Monica Barbaro turns in a solid performance as Baez, even if her character might be viewed too cynically.

In some ways, the Coen brothers’ masterful Inside Llewyn Davis was such a masterpiece that it did both the folk movement and the broken, hurting souls behind it more justice than any film has done since. A Complete Unknown will likely be divisive amongst Dylan loyalists who hang on the artist’s every word. They might bristle at his portrayal as frequently unlikable, bitter, and cold. On top of that, the film might not subscribe to your version of the truth of the era. Mangold was likely to find himself in the crosshairs of fans no matter how his film turned out. His success is not only a testament to his ability to paint a vivid picture of a complicated subject, but his own realization that it’s the lyrics of Dylan that matter and tell the story themselves.

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, and Scoot McNairy. Directed by: James Mangold.