Movie Review: A Complete Unknown

No stranger to the musical biopic, director James Mangold previously tackled the story of Johnny Cash with Walk the Line (2005), and approaches subject of A Complete Unknown with a bit more reverence than in was afforded in the previously mentioned film – albeit with understandable reason. But what works most profoundly this time around is that the subject is treated simply as an extremely talented singer/songwriter and not a “god-like” figure that similar stories may have used as their way into the lives of their subjects. This isn’t exactly a “warts-and-all” type of story, rather it is the tale of someone who just happened to become Bob Dylan (if that can be referred to as something simple).

Mangold’s approach, along with co-screenwriter Jay Cocks, here is to tell a straight-forward type of story that follows Dylan’s somewhat meteoric rise within the world of folk music to become an icon of his own ilk and legend at the same time. The film culminates with Dylan’s “electric” performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 that signified the end of one era and the beginning of a new one – the film is based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night that Split the Sixties by Elijah Wood. This approach to the story allows the influence of the outside world at the time to be felt naturally within the confines of the narrative instead of being force fed to the audience via a long-winded bit of dialogue or newsreel footage that other films have resorted to, which allows the dynamic of the film to unfold organically and showcases Dylan’s creative growth as a sign of the times and therefore more intrinsic to the story.

Other aspects of the film also tackle the story from a matter-of-fact angle as the cinematography of Phedon Papamichael is almost classical in its straight-forward depiction of the folk scene in New York and the portrayal of events that shape Dylan’s metamorphosis into who he seems destined to become. The similar approach that Andrew Buckland and Scott Morris bring to the film’s editing also lends to the “classical” story telling involved here. The film isn’t a love fest that fawns over the brilliance of its subject and that makes it all the more entertaining.

As Dylan, Timothée Chalamet shines and practically guarantees the film at least one Oscar nomination for his work. Similarly, Edward Norton’s portrayal of Pete Seeger is equally impressive and immersive. Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro as Dylan’s love interests Sylvia Russo and Joan Baez do an admirable job of stealing the spotlight from Chalamet when they share scenes with him. That type of character depth only adds to the layers within the film and its story.

More of a straight-forward snapshot of a period of time in Bob Dylan’s life than a career-spanning biopic, A Complete Unknown somehow still manages to capture the breadth of the artist’s importance to the world of music and the culture of the 1960s while simultaneously remaining a thoroughly entertaining and engaging film.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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