The long-awaited Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, finally reached theaters on December 25th, 2024. Viewers highly anticipated and the media highly publicized the film over the past year, especially with some of Hollywood’s favorite young actors starring in the film, including Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning. The reviews have been mixed and the question remains, is it worth the watch?
Biopics, movies that dramatize the lives of the public, or historical figures, have increased in popularity over the past few years. Movies like Elvis, One Love, Walk the Line, and Rocketman all took the media by storm. However, these movies are vulnerable to high criticism. Viewers often accuse filmmakers of inaccuracies with voices, looks, impersonations, or discrepancies between their expectations and how the movie depicted them.
Bob Dylan has been one of the most well-known American singer-songwriters since the mid-1960s. With 39 studio albums, he is an incredibly famous and influential musician. However, with Dylan’s mysterious and vague nature, his life is relatively unknown to the public, making this film all the more intriguing. He rarely engaged with an audience, did not participate in interviews, and avoided crowds and all aspects of being famous. This makes the release of this movie a bit more unique.
Based on the book, Dylan Goes Electric, by Elijah Wald, the movie tells the story of Bob Dylan’s discovery as a folk artist and the release of his first few folk albums. However, he struggles with being strictly defined as a folk musician and receiving backlash for not wanting to be limited to writing and performing folk music.
The plot focused on a specific time in Dylan’s life, rather than being an overview of Dylan’s life. It didn’t mention his childhood or much of his career after the 1960’s. There is a clear storyline with conflict, internal struggle, and eventually resolution. There are many dynamic characters throughout the movie, many of whom are also very well-known public figures. For example, Joan Baez, Pete Seger, Woody Guthrie, and Johnny Cash are all featured in the film.
The most remarkable part of the film was Timothée Chalamet’s performance as Bob Dylan. I was impressed by how well he captured Bob Dylan’s personality, voice, and style. Chalamet went through extensive preparation for the role. He learned both the harmonica and guitar, as well as took voice lessons to sing and speak like Dylan. All of his work paid off. With such a recognizable and distinct voice, Chalamet needed to sound like him.
The music in the film was another impressive feature. Performing each song live made the music feel much more real and spontaneous, rather than prepared or scripted. Songs like “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” were all performed in the film. They featured some other songs that I had never heard before, like “Song To Woody.” Chalamet’s singing voice notably resembled Bob Dylan’s, with the same rasp and style. Monica Barbaro, who played Joan Baez, had a beautiful voice that paired wonderfully with Chalamet for their duets.
Overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone, Bob Dylan fan or not. While it told a short portion or excerpt of his long and remarkable career, it maintained his mysterious persona and refrained from exposing too much of his life. It was a wonderful film, with amazing actors, music, and stories.
