The Stream: Typical musical biopic stuff.

The Big Screen: Chalamet and Barbaro are a charismatic musical duo.

The Final Bill: Good musical performances set this biopic only slightly above other movies in this genre.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: James Mangold
Writers: James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, Scoot McNairy, Elle Fanning
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Rating: R for language.
Runtime: 2 hours 16 minutes
Production Companies: Searchlight Pictures, The Picture Company, Range Media Partners, Veritas Entertainment
Platform: In theaters December 25, 2024
Notable Trailers: Love Hurts, 28 Years Later, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning

Well, Streamers, we really are in the middle of Oscar season. Nominations will be announced this month, and musical biopics fit squarely in the realm of “Oscar bait.” It’s not a surprise that the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, which was released at the end of last year, is getting its fair share of buzz. In A Complete Unknown, Bob Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) is a newcomer to the folk music scene in New York. He meets Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), who kindly introduces Dylan to the folk community and encourages the young upstart, and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), who has a professional and sometimes romantic collaboration with Dylan. We follow his rise to folk stardom and his struggle to freely express his artistic voice. Rolling stone like hijinks ensue.

Unlike Better Man, which we recently reviewed, A Complete Unknown is a fairly conventional musical biopic. While it doesn’t follow the life of Bob Dylan from his birth to the present, it does simply tell the linear narrative of a short window of his life. We see the famous people who populated this time in his life and then we move on to the next thing. There are musical performances throughout that are well-staged and occasionally electrifying. However, if you’re not really a Bob Dylan fan, I can’t imagine that you’d be very invested in this movie. Yes, the movie looks like a good period piece with the details of 1960s New York, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from a movie like this.

On the other hand, Timothee Chalamet gives a great performance as Bob Dylan. He sings and plays the guitar, and he sounds like an approximation of Dylan without being a caricature. Dylan gets to be moody and self-involved, and Chalamet plays those scenes very well. Additionally, Monica Barbaro proves that she is a gift actress as she portrays Joan Baez. She has a beautiful singing voice and great chemistry with Dylan. Their performances really make this movie sing – pun intended. Without these stars, this movie would be pretty ho-hum.

Ultimately, A Complete Unknown is a well-made and occasionally entertaining musical biopic. You may be more interested if you are a Bob Dylan fan, but Timothee Chalamet does a very good job portraying Dylan, especially in the musical performances. Otherwise, this story is pretty basic with some typical biopic cliches. The Dylan fans will be satisfied with a big box of popcorn on their trip to the theater while the rest can wait with a handful of popcorn until it comes on streaming.