"A Complete Unknown" Is A Perfect Movie

By Kevin Olson

Timothee Chalamet was nominated for Best Actor for his perfomance as Bob Dylan

Last among my friends, I finally watched the Bob Dylan documentary "A Complete Unknown" last night. Like all good things in life, it was well worth the wait, although I'm now asking myself the question, "Why did I wait so long?"

I'll admit I've been a Dylan fan since I listened to a borrowed copy of 'Blonde On Blonde' the summer before my Senior year in high school. I was already into The Beatles, The Stones and The Who at the time, but Dylan had thus far eluded me. Immersing myself in arguably the greatest double album of all time changed all that. By the time I got done with the magnum opus 'Sad Eyed Lady of The Lowlands', which comprises the entirety of Side 4, I was hooked. Dylan was, I decided, a genius. And I couldn't wait to hear more of his stuff. Some 55 albums later-- I own most of them-- and my enthusiasm for all things Dylan remains unabated. I read his remarkable autobiography when it first came out back in the early 2000's and loved it. Loved the matter of fact writing style. No fake humilty, yet no braggadocio either. "Yeah", Dylan basically said. I'm that guy. "Here's how I did it". The great thing about the book was how the artist formerly known as Robert Zimmerman gave credit to those who influenced him and helped him along in his ascent. Woody Guthrie. Pete Seeger. Dave Van Ronk John Hammond. Albert Grossman. Joan Baez. All the folkies in the Greenwich Village scene who helped pave the way for his genius to devour the landscape. Leadbelly and Little Richard. too. He gave 'em all credit, explaining in great detail how each of them inspired and influenced his own music, all with a straightforward "this is how it happened" sensibility, as if it could have happened to anyone.

But of course it couldn't have happened to just anyone. It happened to him because he was the right guy at the right time. Which brings us to "A Complete Unknown", Director James Mangold's expectation-defying Dylan biopic. Mangold, who directed the Johnny Cash-June Carter Oscar winner "Walk The Line" (Best Actress for Reese Witherspoon) is getting pretty good at this. And one of the things he's best at is choosing the perfect actors to portray these music legends. Like Joaquin Phoenix in the earlier film, Timothee Chalamet absolutely inhabits the lead role. And the supporting actors (Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Dylan's early 60's squeeze Sylvia Russo, and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez) are equally inspired and marvelous,

Mangold's genius for detail is on full display in "Unknown". 8 Oscar nominations (Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, sound, screenplay and costume design) stand as proof. Like in 'Walk The Line', he coaxes not only fine performance from the entire cast, but even manages to motivate Chalamet , Norton and Barbaro to sing these iconic songs credibly, with passion and conviction. At no time during the watching of this flick did I think I was watching Timothee Chalamet playing Bob Dylan. I was watching Dylan, baby, and if you've ever wanted to see the young, revolutionary Bob Dylan come to life before your very eyes, strongly urge you to check it out without further delay. Currently playing in theaters and on Hulu.