A Complete Unknown Review

Timothée Chalamet delivers a career-best performance as the enigmatic Bob Dylan, whose life began in local clubs and progressed to music stardom in James Mangold's A Complete Unknown.

Until recently, all I knew about Bob Dylan was that his son, Jacob Dylan, was the lead singer of the band The Wallflowers. Jacob's father was a famous folk rock singer with unkempt hair and quirky mannerisms, but that was it. In 2007, Todd Haynes released I'm Not There, an unconventional neo-Dylan two-parter in which six actors played different aspects of Dylan's personality. Watch A Complete Unknown 2024 Movie on flix free movies.

It was an interesting approach, and the film stood out in the world of music biopics without being mired in the cliché production that is so common in the genre. For a man like Dylan, being unusual is the answer, because that word best describes his public persona. So how could director James Mangold portray Dylan's life in such an all-encompassing way without repeating Haynes's themes?

James Mangold returns to the world of music biopics after portraying Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, directing and co-writing A Complete Unknown. The title is not just a lyric from Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." It is the basis for Mangold's approach to the musician's life. In 1961, Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in New York with nothing but the clothes on his back, his guitar, and the belief that he will be successful. At first, no one is interested in this scruffy, eccentric drifter, but that interest fades as he conquers nearly every stage he can find, entertaining audience after audience with his unique sound. It doesn't take long for Dylan to become a mega-superstar, racking up more and more fans and annoying everyone at will. In

, Timothée Chalamet disappears as Dylan; he's nearly unrecognizable under his bouffant hair, behind his harmonica, his mannerisms and all. It's the best performance of Chalamet's career, and a testament to Mangold's direction that, despite the choices Dylan made to achieve fame and stay on top, Bob Dylan, in the end, was and always will be a mystery. This is a biopic that doesn't attempt to explain or reveal Dylan's genius, but rather portrays Dylan as Dylan and takes us through a life that will leave us wondering how to separate fact from fiction. Who is Bob Dylan? You won't find the answer here, but you'll probably gain a new appreciation for one of the world's most unique talents.

Dylan is someone who has constantly reinvented himself over the years. This alone would make accurately portraying that a monumental task. Add to that his highly distinctive mannerisms, quirks, and voice, and any actor chosen for the role would undoubtedly have had their hands full. Luckily, Chalamet was up to it all, avoiding the trap of merely overblown imitation and embodying the legend to the best of his ability. Chalamet actually sings, and his voice is surprisingly close to Dylan's various singing styles. But it's the way he presents himself offstage that really shows how well prepared he was for the role. From his faraway stare to his stutter and odd way of getting from place to place, Chalamet is Dylan in a way that he's not really Dylan.

Early in his career, we see him heading to the hospital to sing for Woody Guthrie, who is bedridden with Huntington's disease. He arrives there and sings "Song to Woody" not only for Guthrie but also for his good friend, folk singer Pete Seeger. Both are impressed, and Seeger helps promote Dylan's music. Although Dylan Seeger has said that he doesn't consider himself a "folk singer," Mangold's script, co-written with Jay Cocks and Elijah Wald, gives the impression that Seeger doesn't believe in or ignores him, which leads to conflict later on. Reed.

This helped him catch the attention of folk superstar Joan Baez, helping his music reach a wider audience. Although their relationship is downplayed, Barbaro is powerful. Then there's artist Sylvie Russo, who is modeled after Suze Rotolo, the woman pictured with Dylan on the cover of Dylan's The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Fanning makes the most of her role as muse, but like Barbaro, she is forced to keep her lines and scenes down to earth, allowing Dylan to remain as free-spirited as ever.

Full Unknown Review

One of the most fascinating things about this biopic is that Mangold doesn't hide the fact that Dylan, while talented and brilliant, was also a total asshole to all the people who helped him along the way. His genius and enigmatic personality alienated people, whether intentionally or not. Mangold doesn't actually say that, nor does he condemn Dylan's actions. Rather, he presents everything as fact and leaves fans to draw their own conclusions. But despite all this, Dylan remained a character I could relate to. After all, he was a person who was willing to ruin his career to avoid being typecast by those around him. I respect that, but I think Joan and Sylvie deserved better.