I’ve personally always been softer on musical biopics compared to most. Sure, most of these movies follow the same exact formula, telling the same rise and fall narrative, that movies like Walk Hard and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story mocked relentlessly. But some movies, like Elvis or Rocketman, add some more much-needed personality to the subgenre. But more often than not, we get movies like Bohemian Rhapsody or Bob Marley: One Love, which treat their subjects as if they are literal superheroes.

Yes, it was only a matter of time before Bob Dylan got the biopic treatment. There is also some irony to it, as Dylan doesn’t fully lend himself to that glamorous kind of Hollywood biopic. He requires something quieter, or at least a filmmaker who fits his folk-music roots. James Mangold, who essentially started the genre in motion with Walk the Line in 2005, felt like a natural fit. He’s a usually reliable filmmaker and pairing him with one of the hottest young stars like Timothée Chalamet to play Dylan felt perfect.

It’s safe to say that while I had my reservations, I definitely was looking forward to watching A Complete Unknown, even if I had been burned before by other music biopics. I felt like Dylan was in good hands with Mangold and Chalamet.

A Complete Unknown begins in 1961 as a young Bob Dylan arrives in New York City to visit ailing musician Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). Dylan’s distinct vocals strike a chord with fellow musician Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) who quickly takes him under his wing. As Dylan makes his way into the music scene, he begins romantic affairs with two women: college student and activist Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) and fellow folk singer Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro).

With the support of the revered Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook), Dylan becomes one of the biggest names in folk music, and he rattles it even further with his plan to shift to playing the electric guitar.

One of the first things that really stands out about A Complete Unknown is its willingness to portray Dylan as a bit of an asshole. Not only is he disloyal to his lovers, but he pretty much does everyone not named Johnny Cash and Woody Guthrie dirty. Yet, Chalamet never plays Dylan as one-note. Unlike other music biopics, A Complete Unknown plays into the artist’s persona, while also showing that he had multitudes. In some ways, the movie can be viewed as an antithesis to something like Bohemian Rhapsody; while the movie has extended sequences of Chalamet’s Dylan performing his greatest hits, it shows it while the crowd is booing him.

Chalamet is phenomenal in the role, giving one of his finest performances to date. He runs dangerously close to crossing the line of doing just a cheap Dylan impersonation but never does. Chalamet is a recognizable actor now, yet when he’s strumming his guitar and singing “Blowin’ in the Wind,” you don’t just see Paul Atreides or Willy Wonka.

The movie’s other major standout is Barbaro’s Joan Baez who, despite playing a real-life musician, makes the character her own. After getting her start in more action-heavy fare, Barbaro shows so much confidence in her role and bounces off all of her co-stars perfectly. 

Mangold and screenwriter Jay Cocks never feel the need to sensationalize Dylan’s success story. There’s no cartoonishly evil record executives or montages of Dylan snorting lines of cocaine while attending an orgy. Mangold has a much better understanding of Dylan than a surface-level interpretation. While there are still plenty of cliches you’d expect from a biopic, such as having our hero chased by adoring fans or disagreeing with executives in the recording studio, A Complete Unknown never feels too boring. There’s a passion on screen that’s greater than just a studio-mandated biopic looking to cash in on a beloved icon (here’s looking at you, One Love).

A Complete Unknown’s hefty runtime of two and a half hours is felt at certain moments, especially when a large chunk of the audience already knows how the movie is going to end. In fact, as great as the music is, Mangold could have cut out a recording studio scene or two or a needle drop, and the movie would still have the same impact.

While it may not reinvent the wheel, A Complete Unknown is one of the better-made music biopics, which is further elevated by the remarkable performances from Chalamet and Barbaro. Mangold has a knack for making these kinds of movies work, and after the debacle that was Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, it’s nice to see Mangold return to more comfortable footing.

A Complete Unknown will be released in theaters nationwide on December 25.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• At the moment Timothée Chalamet feels like he’s neck and neck with Adrien Brody for the Best Actor prize. Considering Brody has won before and The Brutalist will inevitably be a lesser-seen movie, maybe this will be the role that lands Chalamet his first win? Considering Rami Malek only recently won for Bohemian Rhapsody, it wouldn’t be too out of the ordinary.
• It’s a comparatively weaker year for Best Picture, and considering the film has already found success in several critics groups and other awards shows, it feels very possible that A Complete Unknown will earn a Best Picture nomination.