A Complete Unknown (2024) (1 Viewer)

Had some free time, decided to venture out to the mall on XMas eve to my local AMC theater to use my A-List subscription, and took in a viewing of "A Complete Unknown". Was kinda dreading the nearly 2.5 hour running time, but the pacing is fairly nice, never once thought the movie was dragging along as it moves through the film's plot points. The movie lives up to the title, you don't get much background on Bob Dylan's life before the early 1960s, but the film bounces around the early 1960s, hitting some early highlights of Dylan's musical journey. While I don't have any Dylan in my music library (pretty small collection anyhow), in college, there was one room in the hall who was always playing Dylan, so through just daily osmosis of being exposed to Dylan, I was familiar with his songs/music output.

Chalamet's portrayal gains more confidence as Dylan himself finds himself through his early beginnings in folk music and navigating through other genres and historical events happening during that time period. The direction by Mangold is good, the script / concluding plotline is a bit of a weak point, but overall, still an enjoyable biopic embracing the title's promise. Heh.

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ve been thinking about this movie and Dylan’s career a lot since seeing it. I honestly can’t say if I really liked the movie or not; I might be too close to the songs and the history to have been the target audience for it. Not that I’m not glad that I saw it; I had fun. I’m just not certain I walked out with anything more than I went in with.

I’ve been trying to figure out why that’s where I’m landing and the thing I keep coming back to is that Dylan has lived his life and guarded his craft in such a way as to basically be unknowable. The movie does a good job of showing things that happened. A lot of the supporting characters in the film - Baez, Guthrie, Seeger, etc. - were knowable and that’s what gives the film its sense of grounding. The most insightful thing the film might have to offer is showing what it felt like to be someone who knew Dylan in that time and what it was like for them watching him drift away.

Have any of you guys seen “The Prestige,” the Christopher Nolan movie with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as turn-of-the-century rival magicians? This is spoiler free. Jackman’s character doesn’t have an instinctual feel for the craft itself but does understand how to be a showman; Bale’s character intuitively feels the craft but is less interested in the pandering part of show business. But when they’re younger, before they clash, their mentor (Michael Caine, because it is a Nolan movie afterall) sends them to witness a show by a legendary yet frail ancient looking magician, challenging them to figure out how the ancient man does his seemingly impossible tricks. Jackman can’t figure it out. Bale deduces it instantly, without needing to see the proof. The ancient looking frail magician isn’t frail. He’s turned his whole life into the performance. He must pretend to be frail and incapable not only every time he’s onstage, but also any time he’s in public or might be seen by the public. And because he’s lived his whole that way, the people who see his show believe they’ve witnessed real magic, because his greatest illusion was what he did offstage in convincing everyone that he couldn’t possibly be physically fit enough for the stage show to be a trick. He makes his entire life a performance so that what he shows you onstage can be real.

And in a certain sense, I think that’s also Bob Dylan. None of us have ever seen the “real” Bob Dylan. Maybe he doesn’t even exist anymore. He’s been wearing one mask after the other, hiding in the plain sight of his songs. You can’t understand him because you don’t know a thing about him, not really. You know things that happened. You don’t know him.

But I think in his past couple decades of work, in writing about things outside of himself and even spending a significant amount of time singing songs that aren’t his own, he’s gotten at a deeper truth. “Murder Most Foul,” as Ben wrote about above, is an astonishing song that’s barely even a song - a 16 minute tone poem about how the last sixty years of our culture and our humanity was irrevocably changed by one bullet, a lament for a loss greater than that of one man, beginning with a prose-like storytelling that he carries as far as it can go, becoming a fragmented listing of names and things when linear storytelling can no longer tell the entirety of the story. But also, that very same album that “Murder Most Foul” ends begins with a song called “I Contain Multitudes,” seemingly a lightweight lark, but no less truthful. He’s being playful yet serious and it might be one of his most honest tracks. It’s all true, none of it’s true.

I don’t know what of the culture in my lifetime will survive 400 years from now. But Dylan is the one, just like Shakespeare is. You can’t convince me that some form of future humanity won’t be doing those plays 400 years from now, and you can’t convince me that Dylan won’t be right alongside him.

 

[TravisR]

I’ve been thinking about this movie and Dylan’s career a lot since seeing it. I honestly can’t say if I really liked the movie or not; I might be too close to the songs and the history to have been the target audience for it. Not that I’m not glad that I saw it; I had fun. I’m just not certain I walked out with anything more than I went in with.

I really liked the movie but it wasn't a traditional biopic (rise, fall, comeback) and instead seemed to just show Dylan creating and playing his music for a couple of formative years. Like you said, Dylan is not someone that you can know so it was probably smart to avoid even trying that.

The highlight of the movie is Timothee Chalamet who was great in the role and did an excellent Dylan without falling into imitation. It helps that it's a truly great song but I was genuinely moved by his rendition of The Times They Are A-Changin'. The movie doesn't have time to show full performances of the songs but I sure hope they end up on the disc.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

The highlight of the movie is Timothee Chalamet who was great in the role and did an excellent Dylan without falling into imitation. I

I have an interest in seeing this, I have not because of Mr. Chalamet. I don't know what it is, I can't get into this guy's acting. I've looked at some photos and short clips. He looks pretty good as young Bob, in the clips though, his acting just rubs me the wrong way again. Everything I have seen him in, I have found him to be pretty bad to annoying. I have no grudge against him nor anything about him that I dislike, his acting just strikes me as weak and he seems void of any sort of charisma or screen presence to me. Some people can walk onto the screen and they are just incredibly watchable. The camera loves them. With this guy, I just feel like that does not happen. It was hard to get through the Dune films because of him for me. Watching him do Dylan in the clips I have seen just turned me off.

I will probably eventually try this because I am a Dylan fan but Chalamet just is a tough watch for me.

 

[Sam Favate]

None of us have ever seen the “real” Bob Dylan. Maybe he doesn’t even exist anymore. He’s been wearing one mask after the other, hiding in the plain sight of his songs. You can’t understand him because you don’t know a thing about him, not really. You know things that happened. You don’t know him.

It seems “A Complete Unknown” is more than just a cleverly chosen lyric. Seems like it fits the movie perfectly.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I met Bob Dylan briefly on one occasion many years ago. He was on tour for a poorly reviewed record called Under the Red Sky. He was in that moment, kind of a smart ass. He was wearing a hoodie, with the hood up covering his head, which is said to mean Bob does not want to be talked to. However, he walked up behind me and began talking to me...with his hood up. I only spoke with him for a minute, he was friendly, smiled at his own comments, and that was it. The sense I got was the guy amuses himself. I mean, I don't think you can get a sense of a person meeting them for a minute. He was in a good mood at that moment. So, at least for me it is a funny memory.

 

[TravisR]

I have an interest in seeing this, I have not because of Mr. Chalamet. I don't know what it is, I can't get into this guy's acting. I've looked at some photos and short clips. He looks pretty good as young Bob, in the clips though, his acting just rubs me the wrong way again. Everything I have seen him in, I have found him to be pretty bad to annoying. I have no grudge against him nor anything about him that I dislike, his acting just strikes me as weak and he seems void of any sort of charisma or screen presence to me. Some people can walk onto the screen and they are just incredibly watchable. The camera loves them. With this guy, I just feel like that does not happen. It was hard to get through the Dune films because of him for me. Watching him do Dylan in the clips I have seen just turned me off.

I will probably eventually try this because I am a Dylan fan but Chalamet just is a tough watch for me.

Even if you're not into his portrayal of Dylan, I think it's fair to say that Chalamet does the songs justice. Chalamet can sing but Bob has a... unique voice and Chalamet isn't a professional guitar player so having to play and sing as Dylan must have been pretty intimidating. For multiple reasons, I expect Chalamet to win the Oscar this year.

 

[Malcolm R]

I can relate, as certain popular, critically-praised actors also fail to resonate with me, but Chalamet has received over a hundred nominations from various guilds, associations, and organizations for his acting across several films, plays, and TV series over the past 12 years, so he seems to be pretty well-regarded for his acting talent and ability to move between smaller dramas (Call Me By Your Name, Beautiful Boy) and major studio tentpoles (Dune, Wonka).

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Even if you're not into his portrayal of Dylan, I think it's fair to say that Chalamet does the songs justice. Chalamet can sing but Bob has a... unique voice and Chalamet isn't a professional guitar player so having to play and sing as Dylan must have been pretty intimidating. For multiple reasons, I expect Chalamet to win the Oscar this year.

Maybe when I see the film I will change my mind. I keep thinking something he does will eventually click with me. Directors seem to like him and he gets to work with interesting people because of this. So, I keep thinking there must be something I am missing. Why don't I get him as an actor?

He's been in several pictures I have seen, some I don't remember him being in at all. He had small parts in them. I recall being annoyed by his performance in The French Dispatch and like they should have cast someone else for his role in the Dune films.

I generally feel all actors have the ability to play a part that was meant for them and give a great performance. Sometimes you just have to find that part. With him, I just have not seemed to encounter him in a role that works for him. He definitely has the look to play Dylan.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I can relate, as certain popular, critically-praised actors also fail to resonate with me, but Chalamet has received over a hundred nominations from various guilds, associations, and organizations for his acting across several films, plays, and TV series over the past 12 years, so he seems to be pretty well-regarded for his acting talent and ability to move between smaller dramas (Call Me By Your Name, Beautiful Boy) and major studio tentpoles (Dune, Wonka).

My brother can't stand Matt Damon as an actor. He just feels he is terrible in everything. Maybe acting is like cilantro, where some people love it and some feel it is terrible and like sticking a bar of soap in your mouth. Maybe there is just something that does not click with certain people about certain actors.

 

[Robert Crawford]

My brother can't stand Matt Damon as an actor. He just feels he is terrible in everything. Maybe acting is like cilantro, where some people love it and some feel it is terrible and like sticking a bar of soap in your mouth. Maybe there is just something that does not click with certain people about certain actors.

Maybe he just doesn't like his face. People crack me up with their biases towards certain other people.

 

[battlebeast]

Such a great movie.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Maybe he just doesn't like his face. People crack me up with their biases towards certain other people.

I always wonder things like did the person have a bad experience with someone that looked like the actor they do not like? My brother seems to think Damon is a bad actor and just is always being Matt Damon no matter what part he plays. I have liked Matt in a bunch of stuff so I thought it was odd. Then I get stuck with this Chalamet thing and I can't figure out why he just doesn't work for me as an actor. I find him boring to watch, like I keep hoping for another actor to show up that is more watchable.

It's not really hate of the guy or anything, I know nothing about him, he just as an actor seems not to command any attention. Actors tend to project this "Hey, look at me!" charisma without having to do anything, and he just seems not to have that. For me anyway, others seem to really like what he does.

I think Christopher Walken tells this story about an actor asking him how he makes himself interesting when a director just asks him to sit there in a scene with no dialogue and nothing to do. You just are sitting there in front of a wall. He asked Walken if he tries to think interesting thoughts while he is sitting there. Walken laughed and said "No, I just sit there. Sometimes I read a book."

The thing is, Walken has that charisma in spades, he can sit there reading a book and he would be interesting to look at. It's strange, I don't think it is really about looks, some people just are interesting to watch and look at. Others, well, not so much.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Rationalization is a tool people use to explain their thought process.

 

[Wayne_j]

Just saw and loved this. I never got what all the ruckus was about with Dylan going electric, this at least explained it some.

As for Dylan, I love his hits, but when listening to his albums I always give up during the inevitable track that for some reason lasts for 15 - 20 minutes on seemingly every one of his albums.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Saw Chalamet on Gameday (College Football pre-game show on Saturday mornings) a few weeks ago, and he came across as congenial, blended in with the Gameday crew, and did his homework w/r/t the college games of that weekend, and came off very likable and passionate. Perhaps many people in the film making industry like his energy, his diligence and making people comfortable when working with him. Dependability is a great asset to have as a bankable actor for producers to rely on for film projects.

 

[Jeffrey D]

Just saw this- sorry if this has been discussed- looked to me Chalamet
and Barbaro did the vocals. Chalamet
likely will, and should get a nomination.
I did like it wasn’t a fluff piece about him.
I liked it.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

looked to me Chalamet
and Barbaro did the vocals.

They did! There’s a soundtrack album available with their versions of the songs.

 

[TravisR]

They did! There’s a soundtrack album available with their versions of the songs.

Having watched all the credits, there's so much music that it might take almost a minute for those credits to roll by. If they did a soundtrack, it'd probably be like six albums.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Having watched all the credits, there's so much music that it might take almost a minute for those credits to roll by. If they did a soundtrack, it'd probably be like six albums.

The runtimes of the songs on the soundtrack are relatively short compared to Bob’s original studio recordings. I haven’t purchased it yet so I can’t say what’s different but they must be abridged, which makes sense knowing that they didn’t need the full length versions of each for the film. The original Like A Rolling Stone is six minutes for instance; the film version is three.

 

[TravisR]

The runtimes of the songs on the soundtrack are relatively short compared to Bob’s original studio recordings. I haven’t purchased it yet so I can’t say what’s different but they must be abridged, which makes sense knowing that they didn’t need the full length versions of each for the film. The original Like A Rolling Stone is six minutes for instance; the film version is three.

I assumed that they must have recorded most of the songs in full just in case they wanted or needed more of a song while editing but yeah, looking at the run times on the soundtrack, they must have known the pieces that they wanted and only got them. That had to have been easier on the actors.

The record comes out in three weeks and it looks like it's one LP.