‘A Complete Unknown’ plays it completely safe

Despite receiving one of the most biting takedowns I’ve seen of any genre in Jake Kasdan’s Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, the musical biopic has remained a resilient figure in the cinematic landscape, with the film industry wheeling out several retellings of the lives of the famous every year without fail. Biopics are almost a cheat-code towards awards success with the past 10 years, garnering 34 nominations and 8 Oscar wins in the best actor/actress category for the portrayals of real people. James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown is the latest of the ilk to hit theatres, charting the meteoric rise of Bob Dylan from an aspiring songwriter born in Minnesota to one of the most influential folk musicians of all time. Like many biopics, A Complete Unknown portrays only a section of Dylan’s life, focusing on his gradual success as a folk artist and his growing shift towards electronic instrumentation.

whilst I do not think Chalamet gives the best male performance of the year or will win, I would not be outraged if he did

The real draw here is seeing Timothee Chalamet become Bob Dylan and the film knows this with every single detail serving Chalamet’s undeniably commendable imitation of Dylan. Whilst he looks a bit too polished and pristine, he has the voice and it does a lot of heavy lifting, especially in his attempts at covering Dylan’s iconic songs. Whilst I was not a fan of Chalamet’s foray into singing in 2023’s Wonka, Dylan’s rough yet powerful voice seems to be a better fit for his talents. As the major awards bodies have proved, this performance is geared towards awards success, and, whilst I do not think Chalamet gives the best male performance of the year or will win, I would not be outraged if he did – he has some large boots to fill and he does it admirably, portraying Dylan’s suave, laidback attitude as well as his insufferableness. The best parts of the performance come in the film’s first half with Chalamet imbuing his Dylan with a certain insecurity as he navigates rising fame alongside his relationships. Unfortunately, as Chalamet becomes more recognisably Dylan with the sunglasses and the unkempt mop of hair, he also transforms into more of a caricature, cigarette wedged between his lips as he mumbles out a ‘man’ or complains how people want him to be somebody he’s not.

The other performances around Chalamet are similarly well-acted. Edward Norton’s, Pete Seeger, a successful activist, folk singer and Dylan’s early ‘mentor’, is all sunny folksiness, acting as a warm, father figure for young Dylan. Although he slips into the film’s margins in the second act, he delivers, as is expected from Norton, a consistently good performance. Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo (based off Dylan’s ex-girlfriend Suze Rotolo) also does some great work but the film criminally underutilises her. There are hints of potential great character moments evoked through Fanning’s performance but the film, despite its length, never really commits to giving her much to do. The same can be said for Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez – a more traditional folk singer who finds herself intertwined both romantically and professionally with Dylan. Barbaro easily has the best voice and Mangold knows this, showing off her talent as much as he can without taking focus off Chalamet. This constant need to forefront Chalamet’s performance does at times create problems as not only does it take away from the other impressive performances, but it also robs the film’s narrative of the rich moments it only alludes to. Boyd Holbrook’s, Johnny Cash also deserves a mention. He’s a small part but his Cash impression is supremely entertaining, even at times unintentionally comedic, and it makes the scenes he shares with Chalamet great to watch.

So what is this film achieving that a brief skim of Bob Dylan’s Wikipedia cannot?

Despite the great cast, A Complete Unknown’s biggest problem is that it is so incredibly safe as a film, which tends to be a common problem with the biopic. Biopics are a dime a dozen – they have been for decades – and so, to be a truly great one, it must not only have a fantastic central performance but also an interesting angle from its director and/or screenwriter. There are of course exceptions to the rule, but biopics become infinitely more interesting when something a bit odd is thrown into the mix. A Complete Unknown lacks such an angle, choosing to show the same ‘rise to fame’ narrative that is all too familiar. The result of this is a film wildly devoid of any real stakes. We know, as modern audiences, that Dylan is going to take the world by storm, and it becomes more about showing how he did so. So what is this film achieving that a brief skim of Bob Dylan’s Wikipedia cannot? It could be argued that the central conflict is around whether or not Dylan’s transition to electric will be well received but once again, we know it will – Highway 61 Revisited is commonly regarded as one of the most influential albums of all time and ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ is often cited as not only Dylan’s best song but one of the greatest ever written. Would it not be more interesting to dissect the clash between Dylan’s public and personal life – something the film only gestures at – or maybe explore the various impacts of his 1966 motorcycle crash?

Even if the film is content to tread a familiar path, it is remarkable how little we find out about Bob Dylan along the way. The film opens on Dylan’s arrival in New York in 1961 and this point is as far back as Mangold allows us to go, leaving us as clueless about Dylan’s origins as the other characters in the film. There are hints of his past, such as the post addressed to Bob Zimmerman that litters his apartment, but A Complete Unknown tells the audience nothing about Dylan. He becomes a mythological figure, as if he just appeared in New York one day with his guitar and baker boy hat. It is almost staggering that, after 140 minutes, virtually nothing is learnt about Bob Dylan’s inner life. Perhaps this was a conscious choice to sidestep the cliches associated with the biopic, but it hurts the film. Hardcore fans will probably be the most satisfied here but someone looking to learn about Dylan will undoubtedly come away disappointed. What is commendable about the film, however, is its choice not to sanitise Dylan’s personality. Many biopics overly glamorise their star, but Mangold allows for more complexity, displaying an incredibly talented musician who at times, as Joan Baez puts it in the film, is “kind of an asshole”. If I were to walk away from A Complete Unknown having learnt one new thing about Bob Dylan, it is that I agree with Joan Baez.

Whilst the film does have some issues, it cannot be denied that it isn’t a fun time. This comes mostly from the fact that Bob Dylan has some absolutely fantastic songs, and Mangold directs the musical sequences well. In particular, the scene where Dylan debuts ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’ at the Newport Folk Festival is incredibly compelling as the crowd chants along to the now iconic chorus. This is perhaps the closest the film gets to showing the sheer power of Dylan’s music visually and the effect is undeniable. Additionally, there’s a welcome streak of comedy here, particularly in the supporting cast, which adds some brevity to a film that occasionally takes itself a bit too seriously.

Chalamet’s performance makes it worth the price of admission alone

Only furthered by how its managed to scoop up an impressive number of awards nominations, A Complete Unknown joins the ranks of the various well-made but standard biopics we see every year. This is not to say that it should be avoided – Chalamet’s performance makes it worth the price of admission alone, the musical sequences are great, and its length flies by. However, as a fan of Dylan who was excited for this, I left the cinema content if a little underwhelmed. Biopics are hardly films to break the mould, but it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic. What I do truly hope though is that the film will prompt those who haven’t listened to Dylan before to check him out and get immersed in the work of a true visionary – he really is that good.