James Mangold may not have become a director whose name alone is enough to generate interest in an upcoming release, but he does have an ability to turn the most straightforward “for hire” jobs into impeccable works of craftsmanship. Ford v Ferrari was the type of old-fashioned “dad movie” that audiences claimed to want, and Logan was among the rare comic book films that had a sense of conclusiveness.
Mangold’s popularity peaked with the success of Walk the Line, the 2005 biopic that starred Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. Although it wasn’t the first film about a famous musician, Mangold cracked a formulaic “rise-and-fall” narrative that Hollywood almost instantly replicated. A swarm of musician biopics, many of which lacked the emotional intelligence of Walk the Line, followed within the subsequent decade. The trend was so popular that it was parodied in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, in which John C. Reilly played a fictional rock star whose life story is peppered with dramatic cliches.
Although Walk the Line can’t be blamed for the trend that it helped to initiate, there was a sense of trepidation that came with the announcement that its director would take on Bob Dylan. Dylan’s story hasn’t been absent on the big screen; Dont Look Back was one of the earliest music documentaries that showed Dylan in his prime, and Martin Scorsese provided an exhaustive study on his career arc in the exhaustive, three-hour No Direction Home. Even ignoring the many cult classics that Dylan starred in himself, Todd Haynes’ inventive biopic I’m Not There offered a creative take on his different personalities.
It’s refreshing to see that A Complete Unknown has set that formula aside in favor of a moody character piece about a transitional point in Dylan’s life. Based on the nonfiction novel Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald, A Complete Unknown is set during his initial move from Minnesota to New York City in 1961, and concludes with the controversial Newport Folk Festival in 1965. The casting of Timothee Chalamet is divisive, as it may have been an overt attempt to generate interest in Dylan’s work among millennials. Chalamet has been a critical darling since Call Me By Your Name, and does similarly impressive work in A Complete Unknown. His vocal impression is broad, and at times goofy, but Chalamet’s understanding of the defiant, messy creative drive that defined Dylan is essential to the film’s perspective.
Many of the most cliched musician biopics have implied that their artists single-handedly invented a new style and genre, which turned them into an overnight sensation. However, A Complete Unknown has the foresight to know that Dylan had entered an established world that was completely unprepared for his revolutionary work. Dylan’s initially portrayed as a scrappy outsider who has idealized Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), and found a mentor in Pete Seeger (Edward Norton). By the film’s conclusion, Dylan has imploded the traditional folk scene through the use of electronically amplified instruments, and incorporated more overt political messaging within his work.
A simple exploration of “Dylan going electric” may feel like a lightweight climax, but A Complete Unknown is just as interested in exploring the interpersonal relationships that defined his early career. Dylan’s first girlfriend, Suze Rotolo (renamed Sylvie Russo within the film), is best known for her appearance alongside him on the iconic cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. However, A Complete Unknown doesn’t skimp over the conflict that permeated their years together. It’s to the credit of Elle Fanning that she has a fully-fleshed out role to work with, and doesn’t feel like a side character inserted to “humanize” Dylan.
Dylan invented his past, which was only exemplified by an ongoing affair with Joan Baez (played in a breakout turn by Monica Barbaro). A Complete Unknown doesn’t have the intention of lionizing all of Dylan’s choices, but it also doesn’t try to justify them for the sake of easy takeaways; Dylan was a kid who inadvertently reshaped American music forever, but he could also act like a jerk who didn’t appreciate what was in front of him. Although it's largely framed as an origin story, A Complete Unknown is content to depict Dylan as an enigma. It’s evident that Seeger, Guthrie, Rotolo, and Barbaro each played a part in some of his individual tracks, experiments, and appearances. However, the film doesn’t paint Dylan as merely a subject of his influences; there’s something inaccessible about a creative genius, and A Complete Unknown has the confidence to keep Dylan at an arm’s length from the viewers.
The greatest irony about the musician biopic trend is the lack of music in many of them; this year saw the release of Bob Marley: One Love and the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black, which only briefly touched on their respective artists’ most famous tracks within montages. A Complete Unknown can’t be criticized for not using Dylan’s track record to its advantage; there are extensive renditions of “Like A Rolling Stone,” "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall," and "Girl from the North Country" among others. Perhaps, those unconvinced by Chalamet’s interpretation will at least be impressed that he’s able to cover some of Dylan’s most notable songs. A Complete Unknown isn’t just “a concert film,” but the opportunity to hear a solid recreation of Dylan in his prime.