‘A Complete Unknown’ Review: Can A Bob Dylan Biopic Work?

James Mangold — the director behind the Academy Award-nominated “Walk the Line” — seems to be on the hunt for Oscar buzz yet again with his latest musician-focused biopic, “A Complete Unknown.” Mangold’s newest film follows a young Bob Dylan as his creative urges conflict with the expectations of folk music and the relationships that first thrust him into fame. Instead of tackling the entirety of Dylan’s long and iconic career, “A Complete Unknown” narrowly focuses on a 4-year period in the early 1960s. This peek into Dylan’s beginnings is led by an almost disconcertingly accurate performance from Timothée Chalamet. While the film’s vision seems muddled at times, Mangold’s latest project is an overall success due to its modest goals, and is sure to make Bob Dylan a new darling of Gen Z.

The script of “A Complete Unknown” — written in part by Mangold and based roughly on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book “Dylan Goes Electric!” — walks a careful line. Bob Dylan films have been made before, and they have generally been good. “I’m Not There,” which features six actors portraying different eras of Dylan’s life, received multiple Oscar nominations in 2008; Martin Scorsese’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” was an iconic entry into documentary film history; Dylan himself starred in and wrote the Grammy-winning soundtrack of the 1973 western “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” Therefore, to be successful, Mangold had to understand that his film may not stand as the definitive work based on Dylan’s life. On the other hand, in order to be marketed among the plethora of biopics flooding theaters, Mangold’s film had to also advertise itself as somewhat representative of Bob Dylan’s life as a whole.

Mangold seems to have anticipated these conflicting expectations perfectly and places his film neatly at the beginning of Dylan’s career, as the music legend transitioned from a kid just moving into Greenwich Village to one of the most popular artists in the United States. The film modestly tackles Dylan’s origins in New York City and his first forays into true independence as a musician. Its four-year time span is manageable and the movie is well-paced. In short, Mangold doesn’t bite off more than he can chew.

Nonetheless, since the vision is so concise, there seems to be a spark missing from the plot. By focusing on Dylan’s shift from a pure folk singer to an electric — and eventually genre-defying — artist, Mangold keeps the script tight. Yet, the overall message that the film seems to impart to its audience is somewhat unclear. Throughout the movie, it’s hammered home that Dylan’s transition from folk to electric is controversial, but the importance of this shift seems always out of reach. Beyond Dylan’s relationships with folk legends like Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), the larger significance of the change isn’t quite articulated. Perhaps this tendency to gesture instead of spell out is inevitable — Dylan himself is hard to pin down, and those who try to trap his “message” in a bottle do more harm than good. But the inconclusive feeling of where Dylan’s musical choices will lead him next leaves the film lacking some of the singer’s inherent magnetism and urgency.

The script’s problems fade away when considered beside Chalamet’s electric leading performance. Chalamet completely melts into the role and nails Dylan’s mumbling charisma with an almost unnerving ease. The singing — which was reportedly all done live — is familiar while avoiding blatant mimicry. There’s also a lot of singing. Chalamet uses his numerous musical numbers to truly tell Dylan’s story through song, which is what the Nobel Prize-winning writer is known for in the first place. The leading star is also unafraid to show the singer’s nasty side and is mean when he needs to be. Every part of the film supports the idea that Chalamet is the real deal — from the realistic costuming (Arianne Phillips) that includes Dylan’s gritty fingernails and rumpled shirts to the sound design, which piercingly sends out Chalamet’s voice directly into one’s bones.

Somehow, the answer to “Can a Bob Dylan biopic work?” seems to be, at least after Mangold’s latest movie, “Yes.” Chalamet has proven himself a force to be reckoned with after this performance, and the film encapsulates an important early arc in Bob Dylan’s career. James Mangold has proven himself to be a smart director who understands the age-old adage of “less is more,” even if we always want to clamor for more of the beloved Bob Dylan.

—Staff writer Hannah E. Gadway can be reached at hannah.gadway@thecrimson.com.