Review: A Complete Unknown

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Official Synopsis: In 1961, an unknown 19-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in New York City with his guitar and forges relationships with music icons on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates worldwide.

I can't say I'm a huge Bob Dylan fan. His lyrics are great, but his voice is kind of whiny (and Chalamet nails it perfectly) so this is a biopic that I wasn't in a rush to see. However, the more I heard people rave about it, the more it pulled me in. 

I like Director James Mangold a lot. I was going to give him credit for starting Dylan's journey where he does, and not taking us through his childhood, but then he just copy/pasted the rest of the typical musical icon biopic playbook. There's even a scene where Dylan and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) sing a duet of  "That Ain't Me Babe" while Dylan's on/off girlfriend Sylvie (Elle Fanning) tearfully looks on that was pulled directly from Mangold's last musical film, Walk The Line. It was so jarring. 

That being said, Chalamet was wonderful in this role. Dylan is a tortured artist which means he's an asshole and Chalamet played that well. Barbaro and Edward Norton were also standouts in their roles. The cast elevates the been there, done that screenplay quite a bit. And it's never not enjoyable, just familiar.

Maybe Bob Dylan fans will take to this more than I did. It is an enjoyable film, and well worth your theater money, I just wasn't blown away like I was with Sing Sing this week. 

Grade: B-


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