Biopics about entertainers are often too ambitious. Bohemian Rhapsody, while commercially successful and displaying memorable performances, was Freddie Mercury’s life story, and it suffered from biting off more than a two-hour film can chew. The films of its ilk that have proven more digestible have typically focused on a slice of life. 2019’s Judy, featuring Renée Zellweger’s Oscar-winning performance as Judy Garland, focused on the enigmatic performer’s final years as a touring singer, and it worked. One of the most famous examples of a musical biopic done right is Walk the Line, which successfully incorporated moments from Johnny Cash’s entire life while mainly focusing on his relationship with June Carter. It's no surprise that the next film in this genre to get things right comes from Walk the Line director James Mangold, even featuring some Johnny Cash overlap, A Complete Unknown.
Set in the first half of the 1960s, A Complete Unknown follows a young Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) as he arrives in New York, makes a name for himself in folk music, and then shocks the world by breaking out of the confines of the genre by segueing into rock-and-roll. An adaptation of Elijah Wald’s 2015 novel Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties, A Complete Unknown carries the added clout of being produced by Bob Dylan’s longtime representative, Jeff Rosen, who has been attached to the project from its inception. And with its narrow focus, it paints a picture of a contemporary musical prodigy tossed around by a period of social and political unrest.
Like Walk the Line, A Complete Unknown finds its actors doing their own live singing. Following his turn as a young Willy Wonka, Timothée Chalamet proves himself to be a masterful impressionist as he captures Bob Dylan’s raw, rough, and nasal vocal qualities, all while seeming to finger a guitar and play the harmonica accurately. The actor also gets lost in an approximation of Dylan’s speech and physical mannerisms, but something about his performance feels a little too much like an impression. Chalamet is an incomparable actor, and he manages to act through the persona, but there’s a disconnect for viewers familiar with his work that is comparable to Austin Butler’s portrayal of Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. Chalamet will likely be celebrated for his portrayal of Bob Dylan, no doubt heaped with nominations and trophies, but this is not his career-defining role.
For me, the real MVP of A Complete Unknown is Edward Norton as Pete Seeger. With the film’s narrative avoiding anything about Bob Dylan’s past (aside from a few hints about his real name), Seeger becomes the closest thing to a parental figure in the young singer-songwriter’s life, and Edward Norton embodies Seeger with a lot of warmth, compassion, and tenderness. He also proves himself a more than capable singer as he performs songs Seeger popularized, including “Wimoweh” (later known as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”). The supporting cast of players also includes Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, and Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie. Elle Fanning also plays a grounding force and romantic interest for Timothée Chalamet in the role of Sylvie Russo (a character inspired by Suze Rotolo).
Well crafted in every respect, the production design of A Complete Unknown is so convincing that you quickly forget this was shot in the modern era. Everything feels authentic, from the costumes and hair styles to the cars on the streets and billboards in the sky. There are a few moments of obvious computer visual effects, largely when an actor is inserted into archival footage on TV, but the entire production otherwise gives off a hand-made, analog esthetic that transports audiences back in time. And all of the musical performances, captured live, feel like concert events, making A Complete Unknown worth a trip to the movie theater.
Released to coincide with the heart of awards season, Searchlight Pictures has good reason to expect a lot from A Complete Unknown. It has the commercial appeal to be a box office success, the strength of quality to be a critical darling, and the specialty expertise to earn nominations in a wide swath of categories. Anyone planning to pay even casual attention to awards season will feel left out for not having seen A Complete Unknown.
I give A Complete Unknown 4.5 out of 5 stars.
A Complete Unknown comes to theaters on December 25th.