A Complete Unknown Review

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Rating: 2.5/5

Synopsis:

As the musical biopic genre is picking up, Bob Dylan is the next musician to get his story told. In the early 1960s, a young man from Minnesota arrives in New York to forge a music career for himself. Through the inspiration of the folk legends before him, Bob Dylan creates relationships with many of them. He quickly develops a name for himself, cementing a legacy in the folk genre amongst the greats. But his devil may care attitude and desire to go against the grain causes complications in his career. 

Positives:

I knew going in that director James Mangold would have thorough attention to detail. He creates a film that is eager to explore this time period of Bob Dylan’s life. The costume design and topics discussed in the film are all pertinent to that period. Because the film chooses to explore a specific time in Dylan’s life (rather than a full life story), it allows us to see what’s going on in the world around him. With that, we see Dylan’s relationships he develops with characters like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and even Johnny Cash. Sylvie Russo (his first love in the film) is meant to represent the many women he had relations with throughout the years. Each actor does a nice job at conveying a certain personality throughout the film. While Timothée Chalamet gets most of the screen time, there are many noteworthy supporting performances. I also enjoyed hearing a collage of Dylan’s music throughout the film. I’m not much of a folk listener in my personal time, so hearing some of his music throughout the story helped me understand his style and perspective more. 

Negatives:

While Bob Dylan fans might enjoy the film, I found the pacing and lack of substance to be a slog to get through. I know, that might be my hot take of the awards season! But as an outsider looking into the character of Bob Dylan, there wasn’t much we learned about him in a nearly two and a half hour movie. Being that the film is called “A Complete Unknown”, it seems Mangold was intentionally keeping Dylan’s presentation a bit vague, playing in the mysterious and sheltered persona he carried for years. While a unique idea, this didn’t translate well to a feature length film that centers around a famous musician’s life. Because Dylan is a less interesting figure, a long story exploring one segment of his life consistently feels dull. We never get to know much about him other than his rebellious attitude, musical ambitions, and the women he dated over the years. Perhaps a film about his life wasn’t warranted due to the lack of substance. Naturally, he’s a mysterious figure who valued his privacy. Other biopics about famous musicians were able to explore who they were as people while showcasing their musical abilities. This story never really finds its footing, leaving audiences in the dark about who Dylan is. I want to learn more about him and understand why he believed what he did. But unfortunately nothing comes together in a complete way, ultimately feeling like a waste of time.

Conclusion:

“A Complete Unknown” isn’t a bad film. It’s well made on many levels from a technical perspective. But the story is unfortunately bland to a fault. The long runtime combined with a lack of context to the main character makes for an exhausting experience. This story didn’t feel necessary to tell. If we were exploring Dylan throughout his life and the many eras he went through, the story would have resonated more with audiences. A few good performances and the technical detail save this biopic from being a total failure. But as a film on its own, I can’t recommend this one unless audiences are Bob Dylan diehards. Most others might start getting antsy in their seats, waiting for the next movie on their list to begin.