Why You Should See The Bob Dylan Biopic “A Complete Unknown “
Ok, I will just say upfront that I am a Bob Dylan fan. Not the kind that knows everything he has ever recorded, but just his hits that most people are familiar with. When my wife and I went to see A Complete Unknown starring Timothee Chalamet , I was hopeful but skeptical.
Movies about well known musicians are a mixed bag. The Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was excellent, the actor who played him, Rami Malek won a much deserved Oscar for best actor.
On the other hand the recent Elton John biopic, Rocketman did just okay at the box office and the actor who played him had a very different script to work with. If you have never seen it, you will probably agree, it’s fun, but not too deep.
My wife is not much of a Dylan fan, in fact when we are in the car and one of his songs come on, she will sometimes reach the dial. I can usually get her to let it play because she knows I enjoy his music.
My take on the movie
I will just come out and say it, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie from the very start. The opening scene is that of young Bob Dylan getting out of the back of a station wagon after hitchhiking from his home of Hibbing, Minnesota to track down his hero Woody Guthrie.
Chalamet, is probably a better looking version of the real Dylan, but he still captures the essence of him with his slouching demeanor and low and hard to hear droll voice. He certainly is as thin as young Bob Dylan was.
What captures you from the moment he picks up the guitar to sing to a very ill Guthrie and his close friend and fellow folkie, Pete Seeger played excellently by Edward Norton. You will be impressed by how much Chalamet sounds like Dylan.
That really wins you over, because he could have easily just pretend to sing and fill in with the original voice of Dylan. All of his musical performances are spot on and let’s you enjoy them without judgement.
The plot offers a lot
The story is really about how quickly Dylan became a sensation in the folk music of the early 1960’s and his desire to continue grow and not be tied to the traditional rules of the genre.
When we see Dylan decide to shake up the folk scene by going “electric” at the Newport Music Festival, all hell breaks loose.
He lost a lot of fans and fellow folkies by sticking to his desire to try new things and paid for it dearly. Of course we know in time he grew much larger following, including Johnny Cash, who encourages him to stick to his guns.
Bottom line, even if you’re not a Dylan fan, like my wife, you will enjoy it too. Ultimately it’s a film about man who with immense talent and follows his own path. It’s filled with drama about his relationships and fantastic music performances.
See it at a theater if you still can or home with a great of speakers. By the way, my wife who is not a big fan of his music, loved the movie, perhaps because she thinks Timothee Chalamet is cute.
