A Complete Unknown (2024)

CinemaSerf January 21, 2025

★ 7/10

I grew up in an household that loved Bob Dylan and Joan Baez (though not equally from parent to parent!), and I think it really only instilled in me a sense of contrariness. The more my dad banged on about how great Dylan and his lyrics were, the more that fell of deaf childish ears. Sitting down now I was worried I'd revert to my self of fifty-odd years ago, but thanks to a pretty convincing effort from Timothée Chalamet I actually found my feet moving - and not towards the door! It doesn't do him any harm that he resembles the man, and he manages to convey something of the spirit of this poet who, upon hearing that Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) is on his last legs in hospital, travels to New York to track him down. He finds Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) at the bedside of a sick man, plays him a song he's written about his hero and now thanks to some patronage from Seeger he starts to ge…

Brent Marchant January 28, 2025

★ 6/10

Tribute biographies have become an increasingly popular film genre in recent years, though, truthfully, they’re not all of the same caliber. Content and authenticity play significant roles in their overall quality, but, as experience has shown, these traits can vary widely, depending on the picture. As for writer-director James Mangold’s homage to musician-folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet), the film presents viewers with a mixed bag on these fronts. While this effort seems to mostly get things right in matters of authenticity, it comes up somewhat short on content, despite its protracted 2:21:00 runtime, what should amount to sufficient duration to nail down the most crucial cinematic particulars. “A Complete Unknown” follows Dylan from his arrival in New York in 1961, where he quickly became the latest sensation on the Greenwich Village folk mus…

r96sk January 31, 2025

★ 8/10

'A Complete Unknown' is a biopic worth watching. I only know of Bob Dylan by name and possibly some vague recognition of a few of his songs, as is usual for me it seems; uncultured swine. Therefore, I was only coming into this to see how it came out as a film - it's very good! Timothée Chalamet's portrayal is impressive for the large majority, I will say his schtick comes across as a little forced in one or two parts (only one or two) and I also had difficulty totally understanding him in a few moments (only a few). Edward Norton is good too, I thought he'd feature more; if only because I saw him on the promo trail with Chalamet a lot. Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro offer noteworthy performances, everyone on the cast is perfectly fine to be fair. The music seems well done to me, again I'm not someone who definitively knows Dylan's work but it felt well shown. It's possibly too pr…

Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots April 4, 2025

Bob Dylan fans should know that director James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown” isn’t trying to do an in-depth study of the folk music legend, but it’s a solid ride for anyone who loves his music or is curious about his early days. The film gives us a peek into the ‘60s when Dylan was just starting to make waves, showing him as this enigmatic, difficult, and very self-absorbed figure who was about to change the music world for the better. A real treat for fans of Dylan’s music, the film captures the essence of the man without trying to over-analyze him. The story gives a cool glimpse of who he was during the pivotal time in his career when he went from a fresh-faced, unknown folk singer to a game-changing, controversial figure. Timothée Chalamet does a fantastic job portraying Dylan, both in terms of his look and his attitude. He channels the aloof, enigmatic, and ofte…

GenerationofSwine May 26, 2025

★ 1/10

I wanted to see it in the theater, but on the way there I realized that I don't smoke enough pot to like more than a couple of his songs and one of them I liked better when Jimi did it anyway, so my wife and I went on a bike ride instead and I waited until it hit Hulu. The thing about it is, despite not liking his music, I do like the music from his era a hell of a lot, and the trivia, and even the conspiracies around them that I only sometimes believe... no, it's 2025, I don't know what to believe... but I know enough about Bob to be dangerous and that sort of means I know enough about him to be irritated on it's total lack of accuracy. I'm pretty sure AI wrote the bulk of the script. It's not that he wasn't iconic, I get that he was, I even understand why people like him, and Rod Stewart, I even like the occasional singer that is constantly off key, that wasn't the problem. The…

JPRetana June 17, 2026

Timothée Chalamet is too bland, insipid, milquetoast, and vanilla to play larger-than-life Bob Dylan. Even if A Complete Unknown (2024) is about Dylan’s humble beginnings, you still need someone who can hint at the greatness to come. Then again, this Bob Dylan is referred to as both a “jerk” and an “asshole.” If that’s the vibe co-writer/director James Mangold was aiming for, then Chalamet’s casting is spot on. No need to go method on this one; just be your usual rebarbative self. Whether Chalamet’s performance is accurate doesn’t really matter, though. A Complete Unknown is not a biopic so much as a spiritual successor to Masked and Anonymous, which wasn’t biographical but did star Dylan basically playing himself. In his review of Masked and Anonymous, Roger Ebert wrote, “I don’t have any idea what to think about [Bob Dylan]. He has so long since disappeare…