A Complete Unknown
Directed by James Mangold
Written by James Mangold
Starring Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbero, Boyd Holbrook
Release Date December 25th, 2024
Published December 18th, 2024
There are many sharp elements in A Complete Unknown. Timothee Chalamet’s prickly take on Bob Dylan is one, Monica Barbero’s sharp performance as Joan Baez is another, and Elle Fanning’s keen eyed take on Dylan’s muse, Suze Rotolo, renamed Sylvie Russo in the film, is equal to her co-stars. But it is in the softer, gentler moments of A Complete Unknown where I really enjoyed the film. In particular, Scoot McNairy portrays the dying days of music icon Woody Guthrie wordlessly but with remarkable warmth and expression. Seeing Dylan gently full of awe as Guthrie urges him to play a song for him is one of my favorite moments of any film in 2024.
That I don’t completely love A Complete Unknown has a lot to do with my lagging ability to tolerate music biopics. While A Complete Unknown does have a stronger approach than many other recent biopics, the thudding Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect, comes unfortunately to mind as an example of rote hero worship, director James Mangold nevertheless falls into many of the typical traps of the hagiography as his reverence for Dylan and his culture shifting performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival renders the director something of a fanboy rather than a clear eyed director.
Find my full length review at Beat.Media, linked here.
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