A One Mann’s Movies review of “A Complete Unknown” (2025).
Oh no… yet another ‘biopic’* of a music legend. Another tale of rapid success then, with massive fame and fortune, a steady decline through drink and drugs until an early tragic death? Well, actually, no. This story of Bob Dylan’s early career has the first part of this trope, but not the second. Instead it tells of the conflict that the iconic singer faces when trying to evolve his music into something else.
(* It’s not really a true biopic per se, since it only provides a glimpse into one specific portion of his life, between 1961 and 1967.)
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“A Complete Unknown” Plot Summary:
Bobby Zimmerman, stage name, Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalomet), has a gift for writing catchy folk tunes with meaningful lyrics. When visiting his idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) in hospital he meets folk star Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) who immediately sees his potential and uses his contacts to help set him on the path to super-stardom.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Timothée Chalomet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Scoot McNairy, Dan Fogler, Boyd Holbrook, Will Harrison.
Directed by: James Mangold.
Written by: James Mangold & Jay Cocks. (Based on the book by Elijah Wald).
Running Time: 2h 21m.
“A Complete Unknown” Summary:
Positives:
- Lives and breaths the ’60s with excellent production design.
- Timothée Chalomet IS the early Bob Dylan.
- Strong supporting turns from Ed Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro and Scoot McNairy.
- Interesting and engaging story.
Negatives:
- Sagged a little in its second reel for me, with one or two too many concert songs.
- Needs subtitles for some of it!
Review of “A Complete Unknown”:
Superb production design.
Much as the recent “Nickel Boys” absolutely nailed the 1960’s production design, so does this film. Even the opening, with Dylan getting out of a taxi while 60’s vehicle after 60’s vehicle pours past him, is impressive. It’s so immersive that you quickly forget you are watching a dressed set and just believe you are a part of the era.
Hats off also to the cinematography by Phedon Papamichael which gets the colour grading so right that when Dylan needs to look like he should be on one of his album covers, he really is!
Chalomet absolutely delivers as Dylan.
Timothée Chalomet is strongly tipped to make the list of Best Actors in the Oscar nominations tomorrow and deservedly so: it’s a monumental performance. Not only does he act well, but he also sings all of the Dylan songs himself which is incredible. The number of coaches in the end titles illustrate that he also played guitar, piano and harmonica too which is staggering: you wonder what musical capabilities he had before training for the film.
You never doubt for one moment that he isn’t Dylan and that sucks you into the engaging story as you see his musical tastes develop through the 60’s, putting him at odds with the organisers of the famous Newport Folk Festival.
WIth great support.
The supporting cast is also strong. Having fallen in love with Elle Fanning’s performance as Catherine the Great in “The Great” on TV, its excellent to see her get such a meaty role on the big screen. As Sylvie Russo, the third leg of a love triangle between Dylan and superstar Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), she has plenty of opportunity to act hurt and damaged and she does it very well.
Monica Barbaro is also really good as Baez who pulls off the neat trick of looking quite plain but astonishingly beautiful at the same time. She also does her own singing.
Ed Norton is one of the best screen actors around. Here he has a fairly low-key role as country star Pete Seeger, but what he does he does amazingly well. He may also be in the running for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. The sight of him watching Dylan play for the first time is emotional.
Another superb supporting role by Scoot McNairy
I commented last month (for “Nightbitch“) that Scoot McNairy is one of the most effective supporting actors around. He crops up in lots of things and always delivers. He’s like the Eddie Marsan of the US! Here he plays the (very slowly) dying folk star Woody Guthrie and his scenes are my favourite ones in the film as he develops a strong but silent friendship with Dylan. There is humour in these scenes too: Seeger comments about the duo that “there are always two jokers in every pack”.
But what if you are not a Dylan fan?
I have to admit (is this sacrilege?) that I’m not particularly a Dylan fan. I know (and like) his ‘classics’ but have never listened to a whole album of his. For that reason, I found the middle part of the film a bit slow and baggy as we had rendition after rendition of Dylan songs… sometimes solo and sometimes duetting with Joan Baez. All of these concert and studio pieces were really well done… but in many cases they didn’t really move the story along and I could personally have done with excising one or two from the final cut.
Subtitles please!
The only major issue I had with the film was the quality of the dialogue. Dylan appears to be a bit of a mumbler in real life. But honest to God, I really struggled to understand some of what he was saying! This was particularly true at the start of the film so I reckoned I’d got my ‘ear in’. But then in the Newport Fesitval footage at the end of the film it got really bad again – there was an exchange involving Dylan’s manager (Dan Fogler) that I found completely incomprehensible.
Summary Thoughts on “A Complete Unknown”
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill story of a rock legend and James Mangold has done a really good job with the material. Anchored by an awards-worthy performance by Timothée Chalomet, it’s well worth your attention, particularly if you are a Dylan fan. (One lady in the foyer, clearly a fan, was positively GUSHING about the film afterwards!)
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “A Complete Unknown”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdV-Cs5o8mc.
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