A Complete Unknown | Film Review

In the 1960s, 19-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arrives in New York to make music that ends up changing the course of history.

This is the time of year where most of the films I see are films I'm watching just because they've been nominated, and this is the first of the films I watched after the nominations came out, so I didn't have feelings about seeing it one way or the other, I just had to.

This film didn't really click for me. I didn't hate it, but there was a lot I didn't like about it.

But let's start with the good things.

As someone who has never really listened to folk music, or to Bob Dylan's music, the film brought both of these things to the forefront. I heard so many songs I'd never heard before, and the songs were sung really well. I didn't know while watching if the actors were actually singing the songs, but it didn't matter because the music scenes felt authentic.

It's clear there was a lot of passion behind the film, and that the filmmakers really cared about this project.

My favourite performance in the movie was Scoot McNairy, who played Woody Guthrie. It wasn't a big performance, he didn't have a ton of scenes, and it wasn't what the film was centred around, but I thought he did a really great job with the character, and the scenes with him were the heart of the film - and a lot of the time, the only thing I really cared about.

Because, getting into the things I didn't like, what makes a successful biopic to me is one that makes me go and look up the real person when the movie ends because the film made me feel like I know them. This one didn't do that for me. I didn't really care about Bob Dylan before seeing the film, and I really didn't care about him after.

And that's the same with the songs. As glad as I am that I got to hear all this new music, I can't recall any of the songs other than the one in the trailer. 

Other than McNairy, none of the performances really grabbed me. There was some sort of disconnect for me and I don't know what it was. And that's not to say that the actors didn't do a good job, because they did, particularly Chalamet who did a great job (although this is my least-favourite performance of his this awards season), but something about so many of the performances just didn't really work for me.

The story didn't always flow well. It felt like it was just a collection of scenes that didn't have a thread running through them. I don't think I could give a definitive answer for what this film is actually about because, other than seeing into Bob Dylan's life, there isn't a heavy focus on anything.

Overall, this one wasn't for me. I don't think it's a bad film, and I definitely appreciate what the filmmakers were trying to do, it just didn't really work for me. And it's unfortunately not one I'll be rooting for for Best Picture.

5.5/10