Timothée Chalamet shines in A Complete Unknown, capturing Bob Dylan’s early years with a restrained performance, in a biopic that balances artistic depth and mainstream appeal.

The year 2024 clearly represents a decisive year for Timothée Chalamet, with two blockbusters released at the beginning and end of the year, Dune and A Complete Unknown. Dune: Part Two was clearly the biggest critical and commercial success of the actor’s career, and also marked the moment when he fully demonstrated his on-screen abilities beyond the mysterious hunk by imposing himself on screen. Although A Complete Unknown invites Chalamet to return to his mysterious, fragile side as Bob Dylan, the performance is far more technical.

Not only is the biopic genre based on world-famous musicians a double-edged sword, it’s even more so when so many people have gone before you to play the folk singer. With I’m Not There alone, six actors have played the role of Dylan on screen, sometimes with striking resemblances with Cate Blanchett. In this respect, Chalamet comes off well, with facial features, hair and physique that naturally resemble the singer’s.

Obviously, the great pitfall in Dylan’s interpretation is the voice, so singular and unique that trying too hard to imitate it can turn into caricature, but moving away from it can also form a wall between the actor and his audience, who don’t believe in the performance. In his vocal and physical performance, Chalamet comes off rather well, approaching the singer’s tone and gestures but trying to make them his own. It’s not a perfect success, but to be honest, it’s hard to know if there’s a perfect middle ground with Bob Dylan.

A Complete Unknown can be divided into two parts, the first recounting the singer’s beginnings in the folk world under the wing of Pete Seeger (Edward Norton)and his national breakthrough in a whirlwind America, the second, aided by a time jump to 1965, focusing on the electric turn the musician took, alienating in the process the folk public who embraced him as a hero. Director James Mangold‘s few jumps in time allow the film to be fairly dynamic in its editing despite its 140-minute running time, and also to avoid dragging on in a long Wikipedia-style list of events like many biopics.

What’s more, Mangold makes the interesting choice of closing his film on the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, symbolic of Dylan’s electric choice and the division of his fans. Unlike many biopics, A Complete Unknown doesn’t end with a glittering success, but with booing and projectile throwing on stage. While the first part of the film tells the story of how Dylan found success, the second shows how he won his artistic freedom, at the price of many sacrifices. Mangold and Chalamet are also not afraid to show the singer’s less pleasant sides, the many loves that fueled his songs, but also the man’s selfishness and indifference to those around him who supported him. The mysterious side of the man who sells and dreams is also what represents the breaking points for those closest to him.

Visually, A Complete Unknown is very carefully shot, with Mangold not seeking visual performance, but giving his film and the singer’s songs time to express themselves with long takes. The filmmaker adopts a style akin to that described by the fathers of folk, “a guitar and a man”. The artistic quality of A Complete Unknown is evident in its production, design and detail, but never strives to show it off, a mature, restrained but classy style.

This kind of film is the perfect opportunity for the general public to discover or rediscover Dylan’s work through the great songs of his first decade, but for those already familiar with Dylan’s early years, A Complete Unknown still struggles to justify its existence. Hearing Mr. Tambourine Man or The Times They Are A-Changin’ is certainly nice, but it doesn’t go beyond what Martin Scorsese achieved with No Direction Home in 2005. Mangold chose his audience and went for the mainstream, which is an obvious choice from a commercial point of view. Scorsese goes into more detail about Dylan’s electric turn, while Mangold touches on Dylan’s sentimental and amorous side, with his relationship with Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro).

Be that as it may, A Complete Unknown remains a solid film in terms of both performances and direction, without trying to reach for the stars. And given the density of the singer’s decade, it’s surely the right choice for a film aimed at the general public.