‘A Complete Unknown’ Review
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Joe Tippett, Eriko Hatsune, Scoot McNairy | Written by James Mangold, Jay Cocks, Elijah Wald | Directed by James Mangold
The biopic has been a genre around since the early days of filmmaking, and over the course of more than 100 hundred years, it has changed drastically with every passing decade. In the early 2000s the genre, in particular the musical biopic, hit somewhat of a snag. It got caught up in formulaic storytelling and became a parody of itself. So much so that the 2007 film Walk Hard, made fun of the formula so much it ruined the genre forever. However, some films still missed the joke and went ahead and followed the formula anyway, such as 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The formula itself reduced the artist’s life to their Wikipedia page. Often opening with the film’s subject ready to take the stage of one of their famous performances, before a series of flashbacks play to show the artist’s life. It became the same in every musical biopic movie, think Ray (2004), Walk the Line (2005), and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018). These movies feel like a copy-and-paste version of each other. The same formula, with some slight changes here and there to pass off as their own. So, with A Complete Unknown, there was a fear this would fall into the same formula, after all, it shares directors with Walk the Line. However, this time James Mangold has gone away from the formula and directed a brilliant biopic that feels unique and fresh.
The biopic never works when it follows the now-parodied formula. It works best when the movie captures the essence of what that person was about. A recent biopic that worked was Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. The film captured the very essence of what Elvis was about. An over the top, showy, flashy, and larger-than-life movie that its subject matter also embodies. A Complete Unknown does the exact same thing, captures the essence of who Bob Dylan is and was, through the use of his songs. The movie features more music than any biopic I can think of, and in the best way possible. Dylan himself has always been a man of few words and someone who let his music do the talking for him. In the same way, the film allows that music to do all the talking. The most interesting and compelling scenes throughout the movie are shown through music, where Bob Dylan, or another character, utilises songs and through that performance you get everything you need to know about the scene and characters. The film does fall into a few of the cliches and a montage managed to find its way into the film, but I’ll allow that to slide. The film does such a fanatic job of focusing its gaze on Dylan’s music that it truly manages to capture what the man is all about.
With so much music throughout the film, there’s a lot of pressure on it, especially as it was all recorded live. But the pressure is handled by the always brilliant and never boring Timothée Chalamet, who produces another touchstone performance in an already grand career. Chalamet manages to capture all the details of Bob Dylan and the musical performance is near perfect, from the brilliant guitar play, and perfectly played harmonica, to the near spot-on singing voice. Chalamet also plays Dylan with an arrogance to his talent, one that affects so many artists around him. It plays with some of the same notes as Amadeus (1984) and makes for a more interesting version of Dylan than I expected. Chalamet is not alone with his brilliant performance (that will no doubt see him get his second Oscar nomination), Edward Norton is also terrific as Pete Seeger, and Elle Fanning, and Monica Barbaro are fantastic in their roles. But ultimately, it’s Chalamet who holds the focus in every scene he’s in, and like Dylan, is never overshadowed by anyone else.
A Complete Unknown isn’t without flaws, The film’s runtime is felt towards the end and a tighter film would no doubt play better. It also does have those few moments where it almost slips back into the formula. However, it has such a fresh take on the genre, allowing the music to speak in so many key scenes, and is rife with so many fantastic performances that the film is always engaging and entertaining. It’s hard to imagine a film will ever fully capture the brilliance and genius of Dylan, but this may be as close as we ever get.
**** 4/5
A Complete Unknown is in cinemas now.