A Complete Unknown | Quick Review
Timothée Chalamet is captivating as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown and could be marching towards the first Oscar of his career. The film itself is nice to look at and includes some memorable set pieces. It won’t blow you away as a piece of cinema, but Chalamet is reason enough to watch it.
Even for casual Bob Dylan fans such as myself, A Complete Unknown didn’t cover any new ground as we follow his career in the 1960s. We begin by seeing Dylan meeting American Folk legends Pete Seeger [Edward Norton] and Woody Guthrie [Scoot McNairy]. He becomes ingratiated into the Folk scene and meets on-and-off love interest Joan Baez [Monica Barbaro].
The film follows Dylan’s growing stardom before he abandons Folk music to embrace electric guitars, in what has amusingly become known as the Electric Dylan controversy. Culminating in the infamous 1965 Newport Folk Festival, where the older generation shook their walking sticks and supposedly booed Dylan’s new-fangled electric guitar music.
Generational clashes are a major theme, the older musicians continually put pressure on Dylan to ‘stay true’ to Folk; and eschew the revolutionary changes that were happening in popular music during the 1960s. While historical accuracy wasn’t a top priority for director-writer James Mangold, he captured this friction well.
Despite A Complete Unknown following the well-established tropes of the biopic genre, the action remains gripping. Chalamet’s preparation for the role is top-notch, his singing and guitar playing are magnificent. He is a heavy favourite to capture the Best Actor award at the upcoming Academy Awards for good reason.
Naturally, there was abundant smoking, however, I was never convinced by Chalamet here. In contrast to his main Oscar rival, Adrien Brody in The Brutalist; who sucked on every cancer stick with the desperation of a man watching his vision slowly being suffocated by groupthink. Chalamet’s smoking was closer to a guy trying to impress girls in the smoking area of a nightclub.
A Complete Unknown is an enjoyable film, with a talented cast who get their chances to shine. Timothée Chalamet rises above his co-stars and carries the film with his memorable vocals and guitar throughout. He could supplant Brody as the youngest actor to win Best Actor.
6 out of 10.
