THE STORY – In the early 1960s, 19-year-old Bob Dylan arrives in New York with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music. Forming his most intimate relationships during his rise to fame, he grows restless with the folk movement, making a controversial choice that reverberates worldwide.
THE CAST – Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Scoot McNairy & Dan Fogler
THE TEAM – James Mangold (Director/Writer) & Jay Cocks (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 141 Minutes
When we think of James Mangold as a filmmaker, we think of reliability. Some have criticized his filmography, claiming he is a director devoid of a signature artistic style. Maybe that’s true, but perhaps that chameleonic nature has arguably helped him become one of the more prolific studio-for-hire directors working today. Whether he’s making blockbusters like “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny” or Oscar-baity dramas such as “Walk The Line,” his work has been largely praised as a whole. His career is filled with commercial hits, and now Mangold is using this clout to his advantage, getting his long-proclaimed passion project about legendary singer and songwriter Bob Dylan off the ground. For the past five years, Mangold, alongside Academy Award-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet, has been vocal about their Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” and the process of bringing this film to life. It’s a risky endeavor not only because of how significant of an artist Dylan is but also because Dylan is an artist who has been documented and depicted by the likes of filmmakers such as D. A. Pennebaker, Martin Scorsese, and Todd Fields. What could the average viewer learn here that can’t be attained from documentaries as expansive and intimate as “No Direction Home” or “Don’t Look Back?” While “A Complete Unknown” might not answer that question (or many at all), it’s fascinating to see Mangold striving for something challenging and different, which is honestly what distinctly sets this film apart from the rest of the music biopics we continue to be bombarded with.
It’s 1961. A young Minnesotan musician is trekking his way to New York with little to no money in his pocket and an acoustic guitar in hand. Within a few moments, audiences unfamiliar with Dylan witness Chalamet embodying the legendary artist’s unique characteristics, such as his nasal voice and semi-slouched body posture, which displays someone who stands out amongst a crowd of other musicians from the era. It’s a character who’s not in the least bit struggling to find himself. Instead, he knows exactly who he is, what he wants to do, and, even more importantly, who he wants to be. From the first fifteen minutes, it’s clear that “A Complete Unknown” doesn’t aim to be the formulaic crib-to-cradle biopic we’re used to. In an era of biopics that constantly falls into the formulaic blueprint that a film like “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” satirizes (even more ironic considering Dylan was an inspiration for that character), Mangold is really trying to convey to audiences that this is something separate, yet still worthy of admiration. He’s attempting to push that “dad-core” DNA found throughout his films to the backburner in favor of making something that, at times, aspires to be a concert film. There’s a relaxed energy in “A Complete Unknown” that isn’t present in most of Mangold’s work. He’s not interested in hitting all the expected biopic tropes, as the film only covers the rise of Dylan as an artist and the defining turning point in his work when he went from acoustic to electric with his sound. In fact, he isn’t entirely concerned with pulling back the layers to precisely pinpoint the enigma that is Dylan himself, thus allowing the film to live up to its title.
With “A Complete Unknown,” it almost feels like it’s Mangold is more interested in the specific events that led to such a key moment in history (in this case, the fight to preserve American folk music). Sure, first and foremost, this is a film about Bob Dylan, as he is mainly a propulsive figure in what transpires. Still, Mangold is more obsessed with a time in American culture where Dylan’s music represents something dependable for the people of the time as the world was drastically changing all around them. A collective sentiment was present during the 60s that’s more than reflected in the work of Dylan, Joan Beaz (played wonderfully here by “Top Gun: Maverick” star Monica Barbaro), and folk artists around this time. The threat of nuclear holocaust was just a blink away. Political leaders such as JFK and Malcolm X were being gunned down. The fight for racial equality was reaching a boiling point. In a world filled with unpredictability, Dylan’s music represented a constant. So when the conflict arises of Dylan “abandoning” his folk music roots in favor of a sound disregarded by many at the time, that comfortability is threatened. At what point must an artist continue to sideline his creative aspirations to conform to everyone else’s feelings? Maybe my interpretation of Mangold and Cock’s screenplay is giving it more credit than what it’s worth, but it’s clear that it’s a focal point that plays into setting this story about Dylan’s life apart from the rest. It does help when you collectively have an ensemble dialed in as the star-studded cast in “A Complete Unknown” is to bring these moments to life.
Not that there was any doubt that an actor of Chalamet’s caliber could pull off this role, but he effortlessly puts that concern to bed from the very start of the film. The young actor strays away from what could’ve been almost a comical mimicry of Dylan and instead angles in on the energy he personified. Yes, he’s doing “the voice,” but it isn’t like your buddy making an impression after a few domestic light bears on a Tuesday night. The mannerisms, cadence of speech, etc., all feel like he grasps at what makes Dylan Dylan. The guitar/harmonica playing and singing is also quite impressive, switching from the jovial show tunes of Paul King’s “Wonka” to the more uniquely offkey sound that only Dylan could pull off with a low-key flair that is intoxicating to witness. As the “Queen of Folk” and Dylan’s on-again-off-again partner Joan Beaz, Monica Barbaro sings beautifully in this with a presence that instantly establishes she is a star on the rise in this industry. This is a cast that went all in to make these live on-stage performances as authentic and great as they could be. Whether it’s Boyd Holbrook’s relentlessly charming interpretation of Johnny Cash lighting up a concert stage or Edward Norton’s delicate Pete Seeger singing a more intimate performance alongside his protege, it’s all the kind of feel-good vibes you get when you sip a warm bowl of soup.
Mangold and his crew do their best to create immersive concert sequences, as the stunning sound editing and mixing places us in the crowd giving us a “you are there” sensory experience. Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, a frequent collaborator of Mangold, also returns for this film, and his work is consistently pleasing throughout. There are handsome moments where the film’s visual composition stands out, such as a sequence of Seeger filming an episode of his talk show on a studio stage or just Dylan rummaging through the Greenwich folk scene in a bustling New York City. While it’s nice to see the growth of Papamichael and Mangold from something like “Walk The Line” to now, it still never reaches that more palpable dynamism found in “Ford v Ferrari.”
While Mangold’s work behind the camera is being pushed in a unique direction, the aspects of his and Cock’s screenplay that come off as appealing to me may not translate with everyone else who watches “A Complete Unknown.” While well-performed, characters like Joan Beaz and Sylvie Russo (played by Elle Fanning) only have a little to work with as they’re primarily in service to Dylan. These characters work more as devices to inhabit this time and place than as characters themselves. That’s not to say that they are devoid of characterization. Viewers get a kinda-sorta murky sense of who Dylan is and the weight of what these relationships mean to him, even if we’re deliberately kept at an arm’s distance as they are. Funny enough, the most emotionally engaging relationship is between Dylan and his mentor Seeger, especially towards the film’s back half when Norton delivers a captivating monologue to his long-time friend urging him not to abandon what brought him to the dance and cast aside the community that adores him so.
The loose nature of “A Complete Unknown” it wants to emulate so badly isn’t pigeoned from feeling like an actual concert film when you can see these characters being positioned in certain moments to keep the story from feeling meandering at times. Also, there’s something to be said that there might be a few too many performances that cause an already “aimless” film to feel somewhat bloated in its 141-minute runtime. Don’t worry, as it still has all of the Mangold essentials, including his old-school punchy dialogue that causes comedic moments to land, especially from Dan Fogler (playing Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman) and Holbrook. It’s a shame that “Walk the Line” already exists because I would personally bankroll a Johnny Cash film starring Holbrook if I could. That’s how damn charismatic and intriguing he is in his brief screen time.
Do audiences learn every detail about Dylan’s past in “A Complete Unknown?” Not in the least. Is the film interested in filling in every blank of the musical artist’s life during this particular period in history? Not entirely. What the film does care about, however, is what Dylan represented and still represents to this day: not just as the seminal wordsmith he is but in depicting the essence of what it means to be an artist. It’s about the commitment to refusing to be labeled as one thing and letting yourself come to that realization on your own. It’s about the opportunity to make it in life on your terms. It’s the freedom that Dylan so desperately craves for “A Complete Unknown.” Whether audiences think Mangold successfully expresses that feeling is up to them.
