“A Complete Unknown,” released December 25th, just so happens to check off all the boxes of what I love in a movie: biopics, music, and Timothée Chalamet. Despite not being the hugest Bob Dylan fanatic (sorry Mr. Dylan), I decided to give this movie a watch. I came out a changed woman. A woman who listens to “Like A Rolling Stone” while whimsically walking through the streets of sunny California with a scarf around her neck.
The movie opens with a young Bob Dylan trekking through 1960s New York City. The streets of Greenwich Village are bustling with buskers and other New Yorkers, presumably with the same hopes and dreams of becoming a renowned singer-songwriter. Having moved to New York to meet his hospitalized hero, Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), Dylan does just that, playing a song for him and his pal Peter Seeger (Edward Norton) as Guthrie lays in his hospital bed. Captivated by his performance, Seeger lets Dylan stay with him and his family for the time being.
Enter Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo, a young woman who falls for the charming Dylan. You also have Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, the third party in the relationship between Dylan and Russo. The introduction of Baez adds to some feelings of tension between the pre-existing relationship. Of course, that situation gets messy–feelings are hurt, affairs are had, fights are created, and targeted songs are written. You know, the very essence of what it means to be a ’60s musician in a public relationship, or public love triangle at that.
After seeing the closeness between Dylan and Baez, Russo harbors some feelings of trepidation regarding their “artistic collaboration.” Reasonably so, Baez and Dylan did end up having an affair while Russo is away. Eventually, this all culminates into the end of Dylan and Russo’s relationship.
Despite having gotten his music out into the world successfully, Dylan still felt as though he had no artistic freedom as a musician. He felt confined by the folk artist label he’d procured and strongly wanted to break free from those restrictions–he wanted to go electric. And that he did. Except, he wasn’t met with the same critical acclaim and stardom he’d had when releasing pure folk music. Instead, he was faced with flying objects and an unreasonably irate crowd. He relents and after being handed a guitar by Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook), plays a folk song.
The movie ends just as it started. Dylan pays a visit to the hospitalized Woody Guthrie as “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You” by Seeger and Guthrie plays in the background. No words are spoken during this scene, Dylan returns Guthrie’s harmonica, pats him on the head, then exits on his motorcycle.
I am not a seasoned movie critic, nor do I think I have the credentials to be speaking about “good acting,” but I think Fanning is a superb actress and she really pulled off her portrayal of Russo excellently. Similarly, Barbaro as Baez really knocked it out of the park for me. I just love some good musician relationship drama – Fleetwood Mac performing “Silver Springs,” Daisy Jones and The Six, and now “A Complete Unknown” with Baez, Russo, and Dylan. I also think it’s an especially difficult feat to portray real, existing human beings in a biopic, something that seemed almost effortless for every actor in this movie.
For Chalamet, I expected nothing less than another superb portrayal. Of course, taking into account my personal biases, I would’ve deemed it a superb portrayal so long as he’s the one portraying. However, I do acknowledge that there are instances where Chalamet’s works have been…less than decent. Nobody considers “Love the Coopers” a cinematic masterpiece, I’ll tell you that much. All in all, “A Complete Unknown” only proved what I already knew: Timothée Chalamet is an amazing actor and would look handsome with any haircut.
