Biopics can go one of two ways. They can attempt to cover the entirety of the subject's life, or they can attempt to cover certain time periods of the subject's life. The recent Reagan, which I did like, attempted the former to various degrees of success. A Complete Unknown, conversely, goes for the latter, covering the life of Bob Dylan from when he arrived in New York City to when he shocked the folk world by plugging in at the Newport Folk Festival. With standout performances and a well-crafted story, A Complete Unknown is a complete triumph.
Little Bobby Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in New York City to seek out his hero, ailing folk pioneer Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNary). Guthrie is impressed by the young aspiring singer/songwriter, as is Guthrie's friend and fellow comrade Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). With nowhere to stay, Seeger has Bobby stay with him and his wife Toshi (Eriko Hatsune).
Dylan starts making a name for himself through his songs and soon is drawn to two different women. One is pretty Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), a student committed to social change with whom he soon moves in with. The other is Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), Queen of the Folk Singers who soon sees in Dylan a kindred and romantic partner. Dylan's successful folk music oeuvre delights everyone but also becomes something of a burden to him. Seeger and folk music impresario Alan Lomax (Norbert Leo Butz) want Dylan to stay the same, playing his "finger-pointing songs" the same way and be that "voice of his generation".
Robert Zimmerman, however, wants to be released. He wants to expand his work and emulate another musician he admires, Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook), who can shift from country to folk to even rock. As Dylan's personal and professional lives keep colliding, will he manage to express himself freely and rock out? Will Sylvie and Joan be with him?
I admit that I am a big Bob Dylan fan, having seen him twice in concert. I will also admit that his voice, especially now, is not what I would call silky smooth (that second concert where he performed songs from the Great American Songbook, was interesting to say the least). However, I figure that his rendition of these standards is typical of this iconoclast, who is forever shifting and changing to fit his mercurial nature. A Complete Unknown, adapted by Jay Cocks and director James Mangold from Elijah Wald's Dylan Goes Electric! gives us a nice overview of the world that Dylan was both entering and shaping. We jump in quickly to when Dylan, this very young, almost naive man, comes to meet his hero and over the course of an admittedly long film, we see him writing, performing, loving and stretching artistically.
This Dylan is not some pure young man seeking out to speak truth to his generation. He is evasive, flawed, sometimes funny, arrogant but also filled with determination to do things his way. Timothee Chalamet bookends his year with a standout performance as Zimmy. He not only gets Dylan's speaking voice and at times halting manner but his persona, at times worshipful to people like Guthrie or Cash but also a bit contemptuous of how others hold him back. Dylan may see Seeger as well-meaning, but he also sees that Pete is in his way stuck in the past, determined to be pure in folk even if that means stifling Dylan's muse.
Edward Norton is also extremely strong as Pete Seeger. He is seemingly sweet with his banjo and apparently innocent songs. Just as Chalamet does an excellent job sounding and speaking like Dylan, Norton does as well in sounding and singing like Seeger. Norton even manages to make Seeger's elevated head cock look natural rather than actory.
Fanning and Barbaro were standouts as the two women in Dylan's life. Fanning has the look of love mixed with great regret that she lost Bobby to someone more like him in terms of music and worldview. Her last scene as she leaves Dylan is quite moving. Barbaro too has great moments when dealing with Dylan's work style both on and offstage.
Even the smallest parts were well acted. Dan Folger was good as Albert Grossman, Dylan's manager forever attempting to both protect and promote Dylan's interests whether Dylan helped or hindered his efforts. Butz's Alan Lomax had the arrogance and self-righteousness of someone determined to be what would now be labeled a "gatekeeper" of pure folk music. I did not think Holbrook hit all the right notes as Johnny Cash (no pun intended), but he did well enough.
A Complete Unknown did a fine job production wise, taking you to this folk scene in New York and Newport and making this world come fully alive to the viewer. For those of us who love Dylan's music, A Complete Unknown gives us some wonderful songs sung quite well by those performing.
I was thoroughly pleased with A Complete Unknown in all aspects. The performances are excellent. The story, despite its two-and-a-half-hour runtime, never feels long or padded. How does it feel? It feels like A Complete Unknown is one of the best films of the year.
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