A COMPLETE UNKNOWN – Review by T.J. Callahan
A Complete Unknown: “When you’re young you have no fear.”
James Mangold was making a biopic about American singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan and a folk music concert broke out. Singing along is allowed.
A Complete Unknown is set in the early 1960’s and focuses on the meteoric rise of the multi-award winning Dylan from his arrival in New York City as a 19 year old with just a guitar and a new name, to his landing at the hospital bedside of his hero, Woody Guthrie, to a chance introduction to stars Pete Seeger and Joan Baez and finally making a controversial choice to “go electric” that reverberated throughout the Monterey Folk Festival and beyond.
Timothée Chalamet trades in his top hat and colorful candy-coated Wonka world for the life of a mysterious minstrel as the young Dylan. He’s a cross between a choirboy and a beatnik. Chalamet plays Bob when we could still understand Dylan when he spoke. The young actor not only nailed the gritty-voiced singer’s tone, but played guitar and sang all of the soon to be Nobel Prize winner’s songs…in front of real audiences. Chalamet has described his performance as a humble interpretation. He embodied Dylan through osmosis and he is folking amazing.
Mangold, as director, is no stranger to immersing audiences into the world of famous singers. He helmed the Oscar winning Walk the Line about the life of country music legend Johnny Cash. That experience helped him get behind Chalamet, and the rest of the cast, when it was realized live singing was a must for authenticity.
The rest of that cast includes Elle Fanning as Dylan’s love interest, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash. All learned an instrument and sang for the film. Scoot McNairy is the ailing Woody Guthrie.
Watching A Complete Unknown reminded me of when I saw Coal Miner’s Daughter for the first time. I thought I knew Loretta Lynn and her music, but being on the front row to stardom is something special…when it’s done right and A Complete Unknown is done right. It’s music history featuring the soundtrack of our lives. My husband Ricky had not just two 👀s open, but also two toes tapping. A Complete Unknown rates a 9 on thenTeejFlixometer. It’s one of my favorite films of the year.
