A Complete Unknown Lives Up to Its Name - Film Review

Su Evci
Mar 21
11 min read

I finally got the chance to watch A Complete Unknown, one of the films that dominated the 97th Academy Awards nominations! First of all, my expectations were high because it combined three things I love: biographical films, music, and Timothée Chalamet. When I heard that James Mangold was directing, I got even more excited, considering how well he brought Logan to the big screen. Unfortunately, the film did not meet my expectations.

Bob Dylan was, for me, just as the title suggests—a complete unknown. I don’t know why, but he never really caught my interest before. I had never researched him; I didn’t know his life story, his songs, where he was from, anything about him. In fact, I only just found out that he is still alive. So, I thought this film would be a good opportunity to learn more about him and get to know him. Did I achieve my goal? I don’t think so. The film starts in 1960 and, if I’m not mistaken, ends in 1965. What did he do in the remaining 60 years, and why didn’t we see any of it? Like a classic biopic, the text at the end informed us that he released many more albums and even won a Nobel Prize. If only you had cut down on the concert scenes, maybe we could have seen some of that, Mr. Mangold. We already listened to the same songs in Walk the Line.

But I think even the filmmakers knew they didn’t introduce Bob Dylan well enough because, even after watching the film, he remains a complete unknown. I can interpret this in two ways: either Bob himself is a mystery, and the film reflects this by avoiding details, or the film simply failed to delve into his life properly. I haven’t watched any interviews about the film yet, but maybe their goal was to celebrate and showcase folk music rather than Bob Dylan himself. If you ask me what the film's main theme is, I would say: Bob Dylan’s folk music era.

Folk is so important to the film that we see many folk musicians throughout. They aren’t just cameos; they are supporting characters. In addition to Bob Dylan, we also see artists like Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, and Bob Neuwirth. I actually liked this aspect of the film. But having so many folk artists in the spotlight only reinforces my belief that this is more of a folk music movie than a Bob Dylan biopic. To be fair, Bob had enough screen time—his presence was well-balanced. The real issue was that when he was on screen, we didn’t actually learn anything about him. He was either composing songs, writing lyrics, playing guitar, or hanging out with one of his girlfriends. He had almost no depth. I would say I know just as much about the supporting characters as I do about Bob himself. No matter how much screen time Bob got, folk music ended up overshadowing him.

Edit: After doing some research, I learned that A Complete Unknown was originally planned to focus on the controversy surrounding Bob’s transition to electric guitar. The film was almost titled Going Electric. Even so, I don’t think this was the best decision. When you have an actor portraying Bob so well, why limit the story to just five years of his life? If those were the only years he was active, fine—but the man has a rich biography!

Characters

Maybe when I say the film didn’t meet my expectations, I actually mean Bob Dylan himself. In the film, Bob is portrayed as a reserved, aloof, womanizing, cheating, self-centered man who tries to introduce new songs at a folk festival full of people who just came to listen to folk music. He’s almost arrogant and mysterious, and not much is known about him. I tried to frame him as an anti-hero, to like him that way, but I don’t think the film showed enough positive traits to make that work. Most of what we learn about him is negative. By the time you leave the theater, there’s no reason to like him. My friends and I all agreed that Bob acted like a bit of a jerk. Of course, there were a few positive moments: dedicating a song to Woody Guthrie and his songs about war show that, deep down, he can care when he wants to. But even then, he only expresses this through his music.

Among the supporting characters, Joan Baez and Johnny Cash stood out the most to me. By the time Bob was starting his career, they were already famous. While I don’t love folk music, I liked Joan’s voice and style. Most importantly, I liked that she didn’t put up with Bob’s nonsense or act lovesick like Sylvie. This may have been influenced by the fact that she was financially independent and had built her self-worth thanks to fame, especially considering the era. Bob and Joan had completely opposite personalities. Bob was impulsive, careless, and self-centered, while Joan was thoughtful, considerate, and traditional. Their scenes reflected this contrast. In one scene, they were on tour, performing a duet. Joan wanted to play a well-known classic that the audience loved. Bob refused, and the crowd naturally started booing. I think he ended up leaving the stage, while Joan stayed behind and reassured the audience that she would give them what they wanted.

Think about it—if you go to a Michael Jackson concert and he refuses to sing Thriller or Beat It, instead only playing songs from his new album, wouldn’t that be frustrating? Sure, he can introduce new songs, but he also needs to perform the hits that made him famous. Otherwise, he should be ready for the kind of chaos Bob Dylan faced.

I would like to mention another one of Joan’s queen behavior. Bob spends the whole film with either Sylvie or Joan. There’s a short time skip where he becomes famous, and neither Joan nor Sylvie hears from him. Then, in the middle of the night, he bursts into Sylvie’s house and wakes her up. Apparently, she has a boyfriend. Seeing there’s no chance there, he goes to Joan’s place and wakes her up. Joan lets him in, but Bob doesn’t really pay attention to her, he just strums Joan’s guitar. (Then why did you come? Okay, fine, since you came, why don’t you let the girl sleep?) Of course, Bob gets scolded by Joan and is kicked out.

Let’s talk a bit about Johnny Cash. I haven’t seen it yet, but James Mangold had already introduced Johnny to us in Walk the Line. I have no doubt now that Mangold is a big Johnny Cash fan :) In the film, Johnny is portrayed as a cool and legendary artist. When I say “portrayed as,” I mean in terms of how it looks. I have no idea about what kind of artist Johnny is because it’s not an area or artist I follow or know whatsoever. In the film, he plays the role of a mentor, guiding Bob. They correspond through letters, and I liked that dynamic. But there’s one thing I didn’t get. When Bob expressed that he wanted to make new music with an electric guitar, Johnny supported him. But at the folk festival, he seemed to disapprove. Maybe he changed his mind due to the reaction.

Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie could also be considered the mentors that Bob looked up to in the film. I don’t have much to say about them except that I enjoyed their roles. Maybe if I were more familiar with folk music, seeing these artists portrayed would have meant more to me. Let me give another example from the film: Bob was chatting in an elevator with someone he didn’t know, and from the conversation, I could tell that person was also an artist. I waited eagerly to find out who it could be. He later introduced himself as Bob Neuwirth, but this name didn’t ring a bell for me. I decided to look it up on Google, but still, nothing came to mind. If it had been someone I recognized, maybe it would have meant more. For example, Bob Geldof from Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) or the artists about to perform in the Live Aid scene...

Music

I heard someone in the background during the film say, "If I wanted to listen to music, I’d just open YouTube, they shot this for no reason." Honestly, I agree. Was it really necessary to listen to that many songs? Well, we’re watching the story of a musician, but after all, this is a film, not a concert. If I am saying this as a musical lover, there’s a problem. The songs I’m talking about could have been used during scene transitions; that would have been much more enjoyable. But instead, we sat and watched a dozen concerts... I’ll use Bohemian Rhapsody again as an example of how to use songs successfully. Queen, with 188 songs across 15 studio albums, used their best songs during scene transitions. I entered the theater with 3 Queen songs and exited with 24. They used different songs for different scenes, like the concert where they spilled beer on the drums, the studio sessions where they recorded their songs, the I Want to Break Free video, and the Another One Bites the Dust montage where Freddie is partying. They did this with great balance, never playing the whole song so we’d want to listen to the rest at home. That made the film much more smooth and engaging. I wish I’d seen that dynamic in A Complete Unknown instead of Bob Dylan singing for 10 minutes with his guitar...

Maybe it’s because I don’t like 60s folk songs, but I went into the film expecting to like a few Bob Dylan songs. None of them stuck with me. They all sounded the same. (Sorry, boomers) Again, I’ll compare it to Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen is also from the same generation as the beloved boomers. Both films ended with an important concert for each musician's career. But in just one of them, I didn’t check the time even once and sang along to the songs as if I were at a concert. As I said, maybe it’s because I don’t like the genre.

Edit: Since I didn’t learn anything about Bob from this film, I did some research online and, even though I don’t really like his music style, I must say I like his lyrics. I can’t ignore Bob Dylan’s value as a poet and lyricist. Additionally, I’ve warmed up to his songs, but I still don’t think I’ll play them regularly.

Performances

I have no complaints about the performances. Timothée already physically resembles Bob Dylan quite a bit. Knowing Timothée’s real-life voice and mannerisms, I appreciated his acting. His ability to convey Bob’s nasal speech, accent, and his coolness / indifference proves he’s one of the best actors of our generation. Apparently he sang all the songs in the film, played guitar and harmonica, and even performed most of the songs live on set. The film’s guitar coach, Larry Saltzman, says Timothée worked hard to learn Bob’s unique and rough guitar technique. The film’s sound mixer also mentioned that Timothée varied his voice to accurately portray Bob’s vocal style. To show Timothée’s dedication to the film, director James Mangold said that he didn’t communicate with his friends or visitors on set, and even when there weren’t any shootings, he was called “Bob” on set. His work since 2019 on this film shows that there’s nothing that the combination of hard work and talent can’t achieve.

I also think Timothée has managed his career quite well. Despite being 29, he’s starred in four films that were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Who else at 29 can claim to have films like Interstellar, Call Me by Your Name, Lady Bird, Beautiful Boy, Little Women, The French Dispatch, Dune, Don’t Look Up, Dune 2, Wonka, and A Complete Unknown in their filmography? Being actively involved in acting for only 10 years and already getting lead roles and nominations for prestigious awards is a huge accomplishment, in my opinion. I must also mention his theater background— I love watching his performances on YouTube. With his appearance, you’d think he’d be a typical frat boy, but in films like Dune, he becomes so imposing. You almost start to believe he’s Lisan al Gaib. Okay, I'm done gushing about Timothée, so I’ll move on to other performances.

The one who really shocked me was Edward Norton. I didn’t even realize it was him until halfway through the film. It wasn’t until I looked up the cast list on Google that I figured it out. That happened by accident— I didn’t even think, “Is that Edward Norton?” How can a person be this good at playing the Southern sweet uncle (Sorry, Pete Seeger). In the second half, I kept thinking, “How is this Edward Norton?” If it had been someone else in this role, like Hugh Jackman, I probably wouldn’t have been so surprised since the guy is naturally so sweet. (He also proves he is a versatile, good actor by playing a wild character like Logan). But when it’s Norton, I was shocked. Normally, I don’t find him likable because he usually comes off as threatening and cold in his films. This was nicely explained in a Reddit post: he’s not someone with a strong physical presence on screen, but he can become imposing when he needs to, especially in roles that are hard to carry, like those of the soulless, threatening man. Timothée is similar— you can interpret his physical appearance, posture, and body language in a certain way but once he starts acting, he becomes someone else. He just plays more emotional male characters compared to Edward Norton. For Norton, I think this film proves that he has a wide acting range, as he portrays a positive character rather than a negative one. Norton, as Pete Seeger, is calm and reassuring. He’s also traditional enough not to abandon folk music. This really shows how good of an actor Norton is.

Monica Barbaro, as Joan Baez, was also successful. When I compared her to real photos, she really resembled Joan. Of course, it’s not just about looking like her, I also appreciated her acting and song performances. Just like Timothée, the fact that she performed all her songs herself shows her talent. In addition to Monica, Edward Norton and Boyd Holbrook, who played Johnny Cash, also played and sang their parts themselves. Timothée, Edward, and Monica, all three are currently Oscar nominees for their performances. I don’t think they’ll win because other performances stand out more, but I do think they deserve the nomination. Finally, I can’t go on without mentioning how Scoot McNairy, as Woody Guthrie, had no dialogue yet did it an excellent job.

Final Thoughts

As I reach the end of this review, I want to talk about something important: some films are just made for certain people. When I looked at this comment on IMDb, I noticed that people who watched the trailer with tears in their eyes, have listened to the songs repeatedly, and lived during the time the film is set, enjoyed it much more. This is very normal because nostalgia plays a big part. But it’s not just nostalgia, these people really love folk music and Bob Dylan. And this film is made for them. Maybe you don’t like Queen’s music, but you’ll probably enjoy Bohemian Rhapsody. But to love A Complete Unknown enough to give it a high rating, I think you need to be a little older person who likes this genre of music.

I might be wrong, I don’t know. But I think a boomer would enjoy the film more than a Gen Z-er. Does this mean Gen Z can’t appreciate older music? Definitely not. It’s just that the film’s pace, how much it focuses on the music, and its insufficient portrayal of Bob (since older generations already know him) support this idea. Folk music’s popularity and who enjoys it are also factors. Genres like pop and rock, which still exist today, are loved by Gen Z. But I can’t say the same for genres like folk, country, and blues. Now, let’s see if boomers would like Miss Americana :)

Are there things I can take away from the film aside from Bob Dylan? Yes. I can talk about themes like the birth of new concepts, the process of change, artists not wanting to be put into molds, and the rightness of declaring one’s freedom. The film gets bonus points for asking these questions and making me reflect. While watching the festival scene, I actually sided with Bob; it’s completely normal for Bob not to want to stay the same as new artists and concepts emerge. But then I think, the Folk Festival wasn’t the right place to introduce new music...

Though the performances were amazing, I’m not sure if the events Bob Dylan lived through between 1960-1965 were worth telling. As I mentioned, a more comprehensive biographical film could have been made. Does it emotionally affect you? Maybe if you’re 60 years old. Is the message valuable? Up to a point, depending on how much you can connect with the experiences of famous artists from the 60s.

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Story: 3/5Performances: 5/5

Cinematography: 3/5

Direction: 3/5

Editing: 3/5

Music: 3/5 (COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE)

Themes/Message: 3/5

Emotional Impact: 2/5

Re-watchability: 2/5

Entertainment Value: 2/5

Creativity: 2/5 (I'm Not There & Walk the Line?)

Written by: Su Evci