Stubs - A Complete Unknown

A Complete Unknown (2024) starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, Scoot McNairy Directed by James Mangold. Screenplay by James Mangold, Jay Cocks Based on Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald. Produced by Fred Berger, James Mangold, Alex Heineman, Bob Bookman, Peter Jaysen, Alan Gasmer, Jeff Rosen, Timothée Chalamet Run time: 141 minutes. Color. USA. Biographical, Musical, Drama

Hollywood has been on a roll making film biographies of musicians of late. The current subject is Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. This is the second Dylan fictional biography; he was also the subject of I’m Not There (2007), an experimental biopic, which included Cate Blanchett representing one aspect of Dylan’s life.

A Complete Unknown purports to depict Bob Dylan’s life from his arrival in New York in 1960 to his breaking the barriers with his infamous electric set at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. While A Complete Unknown is not as fictional a depiction as the other film, it does take several liberties with Dylan’s life, making magic where it perhaps didn’t exist in real life. But don’t mistake this for a documentary, this is a work of historical fiction. I know that taking liberties with someone’s life is nothing new, but people are gullible to a degree and think if it’s depicted in a movie, it must be true.

Others, who know more about Dylan’s life than I, have already listed the fact vs. fiction in the film, but some things sort of bother me, like the depiction of Dylan’s relationships with Joan Baez and Sylvie Russo, a renamed version of Dylan’s first girlfriend, Suze Rotolo. And while he was friends with Johnny Cash, some of the events depicted between them simply didn’t happen. And Sara Lownds, who was in Dylan’s life during the time depicted and would become his first wife, isn’t even mentioned.

Timothée Chalamet plays a Dylan who is very talented, but also a huge ass to everyone around him or who cares about him. Mercurial is a nice way to put it. As far as performance, Chalamet, who has already shown he can sing in Wonka, does a very good job singing like a young Dylan would sound.

Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) sharing the stage with Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro).

Monica Barbaro, who portrays Joan Baez, does a very good job with the singing. I don’t know if she is true to Baez the person, but a lot of the character’s interactions with Dylan never happened, either.

Edward Norton is Pete Seeger, a folk singing icon in his own right. Norton gives a good portrayal, again not sure how accurate it is to the man, even though it seems some events in Seeger’s life are amended to make a better story. I was impressed by Norton’s singing and playing in the film.

Dylan's first girlfriend, Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning).

Elle Fanning plays Sylvie Russo, whose name was changed at Dylan’s insistence; I’m not sure why. Sylvie is depicted as the first person to have called it quits over Dylan’s behavior off and on the stage. However, her dramatic exit is also a work of fiction.

There are some characters depicted in the film that may get mentioned once by name or not at all. You see a lot of Albert Grossman (Dan Fogler), but he probably only gets named once or twice. And I’m not sure that Bob Neuwirth (Will Harrison) gets properly introduced, but goes on to become Dylan’s Road manager and a constant presence for the second half of the film.

A Complete Unknown is less a docu-drama and more a capturing of the mood of the times. A lot was going on during this period, including the fight for civil rights, get depicted. I had hoped the first meeting between Dylan and The Beatles would have gotten some mention, since I think that was interesting. Not a bad film, it doesn’t seem to capture the imagination the same way Elvis or Rocket Mani did. You can definitely enjoy the film, but you should know you’re not getting the full story.

A note to Sam Mendes: James Mangold can get away with fictionalizing parts of Dylan’s life, but you will not want to do the same with your four Beatles films. Their lives are not complete unknowns and straying too far into historical fiction will not be tolerated.