Musical Celebrity BioPics seem to be a surefire way to get an Oscar Nomination. From Elvis to Freddy Mercury to Johnny Cash to Ray Charles, actors have earned the Golden Statue by doing a spot-on imitation of said celebrity, whether the film is any good or not.
You can add Bob Dylan to the list.
As portrayed by Timothee Chalamet, the Bob Dylan that is shown in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN is a young kid from Hibbing, MN who has hit the Big Apple looking to make it big in the Folk Music Industry. What happens is the meteoric rise of a singer/song-writer from Fok Singer to Protest Song Performer to (gosh forbid) an Electric Guitar player.
During this rise we are introduced to a rough-around-the-edges, focused singer/song-writer who is solely focused on his music, to the detriment of the people and relationships around him.
Alas, not a compelling movie does this premise make.
What does make this film compelling is the transformation of Chalamet into Dylan. His imitation of Dylan is uncanny and he channels his energy into his songs with astonishing skill and WILL WIN the Oscar for Best Actor.
Also strong in the imitation of the person they are performing is Oscar Nominated (for Best Supporting Actress), Monica Barbero as Joan Baez. It is an uncanny imitation and I had to stop for a moment to doublecheck that this was not actually a de-aged Baez performing.
The third Oscar nominated performance in this film (for Supporting Actor) is Edward Norton as Pete Seeger. He gives a strong, steady performance but his character is undercut by the need to find some sort of villain and so a weak rivalry/clash is created between Seeger and Dylan, one that doesn’t really ring true and undermines his character and his performance. At least they didn’t go the “Music Producer is more interested in cash than the art” route.
So…the real issue with this film is there is no real conflict in it and Dylan doesn’t really grow as a character. He matures as a performer and grows into a STAR, but he remains the focused, singer/songwriter throughout. Selfish and serious with abundant talent, but no change in his character.
Again…not a compelling arc for a film.
James Mangold is Oscar nominated for his Direction of this film and he’ll have to be happy with that. It is a professional, if unspectacular effort by Mangold never getting in the way of the story but never helping it either with his Direction.
Come for the Dylan impression, endure the contrived drama and enjoy the songs of A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, it’s the best part of the film.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10 - for the performances and the music) and you can take that to theBank(ofMarquis)
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