PREMISE
In 1961, unknown 19-year-old Bob Dylan arrived in New York City with his guitar. He forges relationships with music icons of Greenwich Village on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates worldwide.
THE GOOD STUFF
TIMOTHEE- Mister Chalamet is on a hell of a run, folks. He, of course, has had several big-budget home runs as of late (dune: part 2, Wonka) and small-time films that have so little studio push behind them that they might as well be considered to be quasi-independent flicks (bones and all, the French dispatch, little women,) of all of those movies I would say that it is this role here that may be his biggest undertaking. Not only is Bob Dylan a bona f******-fide icon, but he’s still alive and well and touring. He is the type of artist who would indefinitely speak out against something bearing his name in public fashion and would not pull any punches. It says a lot that he publicly gave this performance his blessing.
Chalamet is 100% singing every single song on this soundtrack, and that alone is super impressive in and of itself. Not because Bob Dylan has this fantastic voice that can never be imitated or duplicated (respectfully) but because there is a lot of music in this film to be sung. Chalamet maintains the enigmatic persona, the famous mannerisms, and the look. He’s the perfect body type to portray Dylan in the 60s. Everything fits. Everything works well. This is one of the best performances of the year and the best individual performance that I’ve ever seen Chalamet do.
MONICA BARBARO—With all the award nominations starting to roll out during the award season, I am somewhat confused as to why Monica Barbaro’s name is not mentioned anywhere at all. Her performance in Joan Baez is pretty amazing here. Like Chalamet, she, too, sings and has the most impressive singing voice of anybody in the cast.
This portrayal of Baez is a character you would like to know more about, but sadly, this is not her film. She holds her own and then some. Award-worthy stuff here. It would be nice to see her get nominated for something.
THE MUSIC (THE GOOD)- It may sound a bit redundant to say that being a fan of the film’s subject is necessary when you’re watching a biopic about said subject. But I do feel that one can admire Bob Dylan if you’ve read about him, heard an interview, or come to understand what the man stood for over time. What I’m saying is that you must be a fan of the music to like this movie. There maybe a solid 20 to 25 songs featured in this film, and it’s all of the acoustic folk variety. If you do not like this type of music, I cannot imagine you enjoying your time in this 2-hour and 20-minute biopic. But I am, so…
THE BAD STUFF
THE MUSIC (THE BAD)- I guess the problem with a musical like this is if you were going to cram this many songs into one film, then a lot of the time, it can come off as director James Mangold filming jam sessions of actors doing cover tunes. That happened a lot here. A lot of songs are portrayed to have some narrative storytelling value. But I’d say there is a 50/50 ratio between narrative musical choices and actor jam sessions. There are quite a few moments that don’t need to be sung, but they do one anyway.
THE ENDING- If you know anything about Bob Dylan, then you quickly can come to understand that if you’re going to cover the period of his life before highway 61 revisited, then more than likely, the climax of this film is going to be the famous concert at the Norfolk Folk Music Festival, and rightfully so. I feel the portrayal of this event as the climax of the film was perhaps to dispel the many different rumors that there have been about what went on backstage. Try as they may, I didn’t feel the portrayal of this really wasn’t as impactful as it was building up to be.
THE UGLY STUFF
THE MUSE TROPE- In every single one of these musical biopics, you do have the trope that is the long-suffering muse. The love interest that is the one that got away, that was there for the come up, discarded when all of the side pieces came in, the one that inspires most of the art, and the one you have to let go. Literally, every single biopic of this nature has this trope. And that is exactly what this Elle Fanning character is. This is an admirable biopic in that it kind of subverts a lot of the tropes that these kinds of films tend to do in a way. But this particular thing goes by the numbers to a tee. Super predictable, unfortunately.
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I am happy that Dylan got the straightforward biopic treatment this time, even if it is for only a short section of his life. The music very much deserves the spotlight that it gets here. However, I find it difficult not to make a direct comparison to the Todd Haynes film I’m not there from 2007. That film celebrated the man more than the artist, and I have to be honest, THAT is the more interesting film in comparison to this film… respectfully.
Not to say that this wasn’t an enjoyable film because it very much was. It’s also probably the most well-done biopic I’ve seen in years and years. It was good for Bob Dylan to give his blessing to this production. He obviously knows good art when he sees it.Â
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN is in theaters now
