A young Bob Dylan would be an awkward fit for 2024.
The balladeer followed his own, mercurial muse. He defied conventional labels, eager to grow as an artist on his terms.
Social media would eat him alive. So would the press.
Happily, he came of age during the tumultuous ‘60s, the decade captured in the new biopic “A Complete Unknown.”
Timothee Chalamet’s sublime turn as the erstwhile Robert Zimmerman makes “A Complete Unknown” an unabashed treat. It’s especially welcome at a time when few artists give a damn about creative freedom.
Based on the book, “Dylan Goes Electric,” “Unknown” wisely zeroes in on the singer/songwriter’s rise to fame. He wasn’t conventionally handsome and that nasally twang didn’t make him record label catnip.
He had a songwriting voice that spoke to the roiling culture. That proved more than enough.
Chalamet’s Dylan seeks out an ailing Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) as the film opens. The folk icon is in the throes of Huntington’s disease, but he’s well enough to see something special in Dylan. So does Guthrie’s caretaker, Pete Seeger (a remarkable Edward Norton).
The genial folkie nudged Dylan onto the world stage and never looked back … until the singer’s electric makeover, of course.
Director James Mangold (“Walk the Line”) indulges in some mind-numbing biopic tics. Yes, the main players turn on the TV in time to see Walter Cronkite pronouncing President John F. Kennedy dead. Other iconic events grace the screen, eye-rolling tells beneath the talented Mangold.
They don’t last long.
We soon watch Dylan clumsily navigate his love life. He bounces from fellow folkie Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro, beguiling) to Sylvie (Elle Fanning), his love before fame came a-calling.
Dylan is no lothario, at least the one seen on screen. He’s more bemused by sex and relationships, unaware of the pain his indifference leaves behind.
This isn’t a neat, hit-making biopic. Dylan’s rocketing career remains on the edges of the story. It’s how his fame impacts his craft that matters.
A wonderful scene finds Dylan visiting a local TV show hosted by Seeger. The folk legend is bumbling through a chat with a crusty blues musician until Dylan interrupts. Music patches over the rough spots, and we’re reminded of Dylan’s cultural heft.
It’s a moment that adds little to the narrative yet proves essential.
“A Complete Unknown” plays out like a jukebox musical at times, going all-in on Dylan’s early songbook. Chalamet’s voice is a more than passable substitute for the real deal.
The film’s production design is flawless, with special attention paid to Dylan’s various guises. The creative team recreated classic album covers and iconic photos to complete the illusion.
Chalamet does the rest, disappearing into Dylan without feeling like a caricature. He’s cool but disheveled, a man comprised of sharp angles and attitudes. What made the young Dylan tick? He kept many of those secrets to himself.
So does the film.
His artistry couldn’t be contained. We see him awake at night, jotting down lyrics before they evaporate like so much cigarette smoke.
That inimitable voice didn’t get gravelly on its own.
“A Complete Unknown” delivers just enough biographical beats to satisfy. The rest matters more. Dylan went electric because he had to … period.
That shift weighs heavily on the film and the music scene at the time. It lets key figures reveal themselves in unflattering ways. Through it all stood Dylan, chasing his art without letting anyone stand in his way.
HiT or Miss: “A Complete Unknown” lives up to its title, bringing the inscrutable folk hero to life without putting him into any tidy box.
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