Thin on drama, ‘A Complete Unknown’ depicts a hero best appreciated from afar
“Dont Look Back” is a quagmire of boredom. Every time you hope something might happen, nothing does, and gradually you figure that you’ve sat through enough of its 97 minutes already, you might as well see it through to the end.
For more than five decades, that 1967 film has been the defining cinematic treatment of Bob Dylan. Its newest companion piece, for lack of a better term, is 2024’s “A Complete Unknown.” Together, they tell us why serious cinema should generally leave musicians alone, but also why they’re irresistible.
“A Complete Unknown” is a film by James Mangold, who also gave Johnny Cash the “Walk the Line” treatment and knows to check most of the boxes. We’ve got the great movie star who looks and sounds so much like the real thing, we’ve got the title lifted from a well-known song or lyric, we’ve got the troubles with women and/or substance abuse, we’ve got the concert moment that goes wrong, and we’ve got the killer soundtrack.
It’s very hard to convincingly argue that almost any cinematic production of a musical star is actually a “movie.” Are they re-creations? Yes. News stories? Often. Soundtracks? Of course. Entertainment packages? Sure.
Compare the acted stuff with the real stuff ...
The acted stuff tends to be crowd-pleasers that overachieve at the box office and awards circuit. “Ray,” “Walk the Line,” “The Doors,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Elvis,” “La Vie En Rose,” “Love & Mercy,” fine or mediocre entertainment as re-creations, either for those with nostalgia, or later generations.
The documentary approach, despite its authenticity, is typically worse as a feature film, even though the access, which amounts to a news story, is extraordinary. “Let It Be” was filmed to promote an album. So was “U2: Rattle & Hum.” Led Zeppelin did the ludicrous fantasy+concert “The Song Remains the Same” because ... a bunch of other bands were making movies.
Martin Scorsese received critical acclaim for “The Last Waltz,” which Roger Ebert praised but nevertheless observed that “the overall sense of the film is of good riddance to a bad time.” That movie happens to feature Bob Dylan, as did Scorsese’s 2005 “No Direction Home.” Scorsese went to the well again in 2008, not with Dylan but the Rolling Stones, making the pointless “Shine a Light.”
It was the Maysles brothers who had something, by fluke — 1970’s “Gimme Shelter,” which would be regarded as just another batch of concert footage except it concludes at Altamont, the point being made that there’s at least a bit of unhealthy mass hysteria surrounding the rock scene.
(There’s yet another subgenre, when music stars portray fictional musicians, such as Willie Nelson in “Honeysuckle Rose” and Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born.”)
Pauline Kael in the late ’60s suggested that “Don’t Look Back” masked uninteresting material with a not-so-convincing cinéma vérité approach. “Part of the praise” for the film, Kael writes, “seemed to originate from the notion that the roughness of the film was necessary.” She asserts, “Sequences that in a Hollywood movie would have been greeted with snickers — like Bob Dylan in the throes of composition — got by because of the rough look.” Kael says the young film audience was on Dylan’s side, “because he looked frail and sensitive, because he looked like one of them.” She didn’t note that Dylan (or Timothée Chalamet) at 20 pounds heavier wouldn’t be the same cinematically dynamic figure.
Whether actors or the real thing, these productions are reliant on one thing: license. Even a simple interview with a rock star is a very tough get. To portray a musician and their work on screen, you need the rights or the access. The people who grant those rights probably aren’t looking to inspire the next “Citizen Kane.” One of the producers of ‘A Complete Unknown” is Jeff Rosen, Dylan’s manager.
The excuses for making “A Complete Unknown” could be any of the following. Greatness not understood or appreciated ... Fairly sudden fade of a musical genre that had just recently exploded ... Nostalgia for New York’s bohemian scene of the ’60s ... Someone who’s great who changes their approach to become even greater ... Active current person whose greatest work was 60 years ago (no, actually that movie was “David Crosby: Remember My Name”).
The biggest question about “A Complete Unknown” is, Why now? The book it is based on, Dylan Goes Electric!, by Elijah Wald, was published in 2015, marking the 50th anniversary of the landmark Newport festival. So “A Complete Unknown” is a (delayed) anniversary movie. It took perseverance — according to reports, the movie project was underway by 2020, only to be frustrated by COVID-19 and then the Hollywood writers/actors strike.
There isn’t a message here about current events or anyone’s re-relevancy. It’s the endless appeal of the ’60s nostalgia for a fondly remembered time that faded quickly and will never happen again, as “American Graffiti” indicated all the way back in 1973. On this level, “A Complete Unknown” works well.
There is a strong parallel though to a seemingly unrelated 2010 movie: “The Social Network.” Bob Dylan and computer programming? No, a couple of guys who dropped out of college and hit the road for the HQ of their professions not because they couldn’t handle college, but because they sensed something bigger. For most people, it’s too much of a gamble. These two groundbreaking figures realized it, along with difficulty dealing with notoriety and women.
The latter is a tiresome flaw of “A Complete Unknown,” bouncing between the dedicated partner who’s not famous (everyone says it is the real-life Suze Rotolo, whom Dylan didn’t want named in the movie) and the collaborator who is. Whenever it’s needed to advance the plot, crowds of girls will suddenly notice Dylan and chase him somewhere, perhaps even heckling. There is a curious camera fixation on underwear (particularly in the case of Monica Barbaro).
There’s also a faint connection with the unrelated 2024 movie “The Apprentice,” about a different kind of New York up-and-comer. In both movies, the young protagonist is, for a time, guided by VIPs, only to gradually find himself not wanting, or needing, their advice.
“A Complete Unknown” does remind us that before hippies surfaced everywhere during Vietnam, the groundwork was laid a decade earlier by the Beat Generation, the counterargument to baby boom euphoria that had its eye on social inequity or unrest. A Chicago Tribune review of a Bob Dylan performance, published Dec. 28, 1963, said Dylan is a “serious moralist, discontented and disturbed with his world, anxious for change.” For those sentiments, the acoustic guitar was the most powerful weapon.
Musicians getting booed for bad or controversial performances is not that uncommon (it’s shown in “The Doors”), but Mangold is impressively faithful to real events. A Chicago Tribune review of Nov. 27, 1965, says Dylan’s performance at the Arie Crown was “booed by the folk purists,” but that booing was “more than balanced by rock and roll enthusiasts.”
Gradually, all the other characters in “A Complete Unknown” will be taught, “He’s cooler than we are.” The movie suggests, probably correctly, that Dylan’s inspiration comes from his life experiences, but what makes him great is never explained, why he’s able to do the work he is doing.
The movie has the tone of triumph, and much has been made of the portrayal by Timothée Chalamet. Exactly what does his character accomplish? He achieves a status in pop culture and sells a lot of records. He adjusts his art form to expand the envelope and reach greater mainstream heights. He doesn’t cure cancer or invent the iPhone or run for office. Mangold, like Oliver Stone in “The Doors,” gives us the supreme confidence and middle-finger defiance that people anticipate from musical heroes, skipping or crashing important meetings, riding a motorcycle, driving across several lanes of traffic, wearing shades indoors, not performing what he has agreed to perform, sticking it to the squares, even stiffing a few friends. These figures extend the envelope — and the insufferableness. Roger Ebert concluded his review of “The Doors” with, “Even in death, Jim Morrison is no fun to be around.”
3 stars
(December 2024)
“A Complete Unknown” (2024)
Starring
Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan ♦
Joe Tippett as Dave Van Ronk ♦
Edward Norton as Pete Seeger ♦
Eriko Hatsune as Toshi Seeger ♦
Peter Gray Lewis as Frank (Lawyer) ♦
Peter Gerety as Federal Judge ♦
Lenny Grossman as Federal Court Clerk ♦
David Wenzel as Cab Driver ♦
Scoot McNairy as Woody Guthrie ♦
Riley Hashimoto as Danny Seeger ♦
Eloise Peyrot as Tinya Seeger ♦
Maya Feldman as Mika Seeger ♦
Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez ♦
Dan Fogler as Albert Grossman ♦
Reza Salazar as Tito (Gerdes Stage Manager) ♦
David Alan Basche as John Hammond ♦
James Austin Johnson as Gerdes M.C. ♦
Joshua Henry as Brownie McGhee (Blues Musician) ♦
Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo ♦
Norbert Leo Butz as Alan Lomax ♦
Alaina Surgener as Gena Russo ♦
Martin Fisher as Civil Rights Speaker ♦
Craig Geraghty as Mailman ♦
Michael Everett Johnson as Orderly ♦
Jater Webb as Young Musician at Party ♦
Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash ♦
Andy Talen as Jimmy Dean ♦
Andrew Kober as Man On Payphone ♦
Eric Berryman as Tom Wilson ♦
Molly Jobe as CBS Receptionist ♦
Sophia Feldman as Girl #1 (D.C. Hotel) ♦
Taylor Lupini as Girl #2 (D.C. Hotel) ♦
P.J. Byrne as Harold Leventhal ♦
Nick Pupo as Peter Yarrow ♦
Brendan Burke as Street Vendor ♦
Laura Kariuki as Becka ♦
Zoe Zien as Tilda ♦
Kevyn Morrow as Party Guest #1 ♦
Andy Grotelueschen as Party Guest #2 ♦
Jonathan Spivey as Party Guest #3 ♦
Cilda Shaur as Party Guest #4 ♦
Clark Carmichael as Party Guest #5 ♦
Will Harrison as Bobby Neuwirth ♦
Taylor Goodwyn as Woman At McAnn’s ♦
Arthur Langlie as Sylvie’s New Boyfriend ♦
Michael Chernus as Theodore Bikel ♦
Jordan Goodsell as Roy Halee (Engineer) ♦
Big Bill Morganfield as Jesse Moffette ♦
Liam Craig as Jonah (TV Floor Director) ♦
Charlie Tahan as Al Kooper ♦
Ian Kagey as Harvey Brooks (Columbia Records) ♦
Dave Maulbeck as Newport Cab Driver ♦
Lorin Doctor as Spacey Girl ♦
Aidan Close as Kid In Crowd ♦
Irina Chelidze as Girl In Crowd ♦
Jenna Veal as Newport Festival Fan #1 ♦
Joshua Flinchbaugh as Newport Festival Fan #2 ♦
Cameron Quevedo as Newport Festival Fan #3 ♦
Alexis Felix as Newport Festival Fan #4 ♦
Will Price as Joe Boyd (Sound Engineer) ♦
Sunny Vinsavich as Angry Fan ♦
Kayli Carter as Maria Muldaur ♦
Steve Bell as Sony Terry (Blues Musician) ♦
Malcolm Gold as Marshall Grant (Tennessee 3) ♦
Patrick Phalen as Luther Perkins (Tennessee 3) ♦
Douglas Marriner as W.S. Holland (Tennessee 3) ♦
Justin Levine as Barry Goldberg (Newport Band ’65) ♦
Mark Whitfield Jr. as Sam Lay (Newport Band ’65) ♦
Joshua Crumbley as Jerome Arnold (Newport Band ’65) ♦
Felix Lemerle as Kenny Rankin (Columbia Records) ♦
Malick Koly as Bruce Langhorne (Columbia Records) ♦
Andre Chez Lewis as Paul Griffin (Columbia Records) ♦
Jimmy Caltrider as Bobby Gregg (Columbia Records) ♦
Kyle A. Sanna as Patsy Celtic Band Member ♦
Patrick M. Dennis as Patsy Celtic Band Member ♦
Nick Baxter as Patsy Celtic Band Member ♦
Alan Murray as Musician Outside Viking #1 ♦
Mark Gross as Musician Outside Viking #2 ♦
Andy Stein as Musician Outside Viking #3 ♦
Jean Rohe as Musician Outside Viking #4 ♦
Farley Rene as Texas Prison Working Group #1 ♦
Junior Cius as Texas Prison Working Group #2 ♦
Travis Patton as Texas Prison Working Group #3 ♦
Victor Sho as Texas Prison Working Group #4 ♦
Vincent Mp Filliatre as Texas Prison Working Group #5 ♦
Amos Machanic as Texas Prison Working Group #6 ♦
Sunny Jain as Man Playing Tambourine ♦
Archie Worley as Vendor Sings Opera ♦
Alexis Felix as Newport Festival Fan
Directed by: James Mangold
Written by: James Mangold (screenplay)
Written by: Jay Cocks (screenplay)
Written by: Elijah Wald (book)
Producer: Timothée Chalamet
Producer: James Mangold
Producer: Jeff Rosen
Producer: Fred Berger
Producer: Alex Heineman
Producer: Bob Bookman
Producer: Alan Gasmer
Producer: Peter Jaysen
Co-producer: Anthony Dixon
Co-producer: Matthew Wells
Associate producer: Blake Simon
Executive producer: Michael Bederman
Executive producer: Brian Kavanaugh-Jones
Executive producer: Andrew Rona
Cinematography: Phedon Papamichael
Editing: Andrew Buckland, Scott Morris
Casting: Yesi Ramirez
Production design: François Audouy
Art direction: Christopher J. Morris
Set decoration: Regina Graves
Costumes: Arianne Phillips
Makeup and hair:
Richard Redlefsen, David Presto, Rebecca Woodfork, Ashley Rae Callahan, Stephanie Cannone, Ruth G. Carsch, Christen Edwards, Sonja Gregoire, Greg Cooper-Spencer, Adam Bailey, Rich Krusell, Shannon Dollison, Jill Oshry, Emma Strachman, Jessica Toth, Kaela Dobson, Craig Lindberg, Stacey Panepinto, Tayler Winer, Stephen Imhoff, Kelly Reed
Production supervisor: Gus Gustafson
Production supervisor: Pre Production: Michael Hall
Unit production manager: pre-production: Leah Winkler
Post-production supervisor: Matthew Wells
The producers wish to thank: Neil Daly
