‘A Complete Unknown’ Offers the Usual Biopic Clichés … And That’s Alright, Ma

Andy Vineberg
Features Writer, Tune Up Magazine

I’m a sucker for music biopics. Always have been. Despite the usual flaws (hackneyed timelines, over-the-top substance abuse-fueled scenes, exaggerated or outright fictionalized events, and all the other clichés so memorably parodied in 2007’s “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”), I get a kick from seeing the lives and music of my favorite artists (and even many of my non-favorites) portrayed on the big screen.

They’re like an episode of VH1’s “Behind the Music” on steroids: all the exhilarating highs and devastating lows dramatized for maximum entertainment value—truth and actual recording dates be damned.

So given my love of biopics and my absolute obsession with all things Bob Dylan, yeah, you could say I was excited to see “A Complete Unknown” in theaters.

And I’ve got to say, the film lived up to my expectations. I’m not alone. As of this writing, “A Complete Unknown” has a 78% positive score from critics and a 96% approval rate from the public on RottenTomatoes. No less a music authority than the legendary Neil Young has written, “I think if you love Bob’s music you should see this great movie. I loved it.”

If you’ve somehow missed the hype and aren’t familiar with the story, the film chronicles Dylan’s eventful first four-and-a-half years in New York City, culminating in his earth-shattering (or, as the old folkies in the crowd might have described it, ear-shattering) electric performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Backed by members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band (including a young and ferocious Mike Bloomfield on guitar), Dylan plugged in, rocked the hell out of a three-song electric set (followed by two solo acoustic numbers), and sent shockwaves across not only the festival grounds but the entire folk music community.

Check out his performance of set opener “Maggie’s Farm” from that evening

“Maggie’s Farm”

“A Complete Unknown” does a tremendous job capturing the hysteria surrounding that fateful performance—the mix of raucous cheers and angry boos throughout the crowd, the exasperation among concert organizers over the volume and distorted sound, and the overall sense that the times, indeed, were a-changing.

Still, as with most biopics, the film plays fast and loose with the details from that night:

Yes, folk purist Alan Lomax did get into a physical altercation with Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman, but it happened a day earlier at the festival, not during Dylan’s set (as described in Elijah Wald’s “Dylan Goes Electric!,” the book on which the film is based).

The setlist’s order is incorrect, and the acoustic closer “Mr. Tambourine Man” is omitted entirely (as the film tells it, Dylan walked off the Newport stage for good after “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” which certainly makes for a powerful cinematic moment, even if it didn’t happen that way).

The infamous scream of “Judas! from a member of the audience at the start of “Like a Rolling Stone” occurred not at Newport in 1965 (as depicted in the film) but during a show in Manchester, England in 1966.

Small gripes, though, right? The fact is, Dylan afficionados can find dozens of such fabrications in the film (at least one of which was apparently requested by Dylan himself), but if you’re looking for complete accuracy, watch a documentary, not a biopic. (And even then, you’re at the mercy of the director’s vision and artistic choices).

Personally, the only fudging-of-the-facts that took me out of the moment was the hotel scene depicting Dylan writing “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” well after recording the title track from “Highway 61 Revisited.”  Not as egregious, perhaps, as showing Queen creating “We Will Rock You” in 1980 in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but for a music nerd like myself, still pretty jarring.

“We Will Rock You”

But enough nit-picking. It’s been a long time since a movie had me grinning like an idiot from start to finish.

Why is the film so entertaining? Three reasons:

1. Timothée Chalamet

I knew the man could act. But I didn’t know he could sing. Chalamet does an amazing job capturing the mannerisms, mischief, and mystery of a young Dylan, but he perhaps does an even better job performing songs we’ve all heard a million times. As someone who prefers Dylan’s versions of his own songs to the myriad of covers out there (with the possible exception of Jimi Hendix’s iconic “All Along the Watchtower”), I can honestly say I was moved by Chalamet’s renditions and am looking forward to seeing him perform more Dylan music when he appears as host and musical guest on the Jan. 25 episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

2. The supporting cast

Ed Norton is terrific as the legendary and kind-hearted protest singer Pete Seeger, who played a key role in bringing Dylan’s music to the masses while at the same time struggling to stay true to his musical roots amidst a changing culture. The other key players are equally well-cast: Elle Fanning as Dylan’s girlfriend Sylvia Russo (a character based on Dylan’s actual girlfriend at the time, Suze Rotolo), Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Scott McNairy as a dying, non-verbal Woody Guthrie, and Dan Fogler as the crass and confrontational Albert Grossman. I also loved Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash (the second time James Mangold has directed an actor playing Cash following 2005’s Golden Globe-winning “Walk the Line”). Is Holbrook as captivating as Joaquin Phoenix? Hell no, but in a supporting role, he doesn’t need to be, and he nails the essence of the Man in Black at his most messed-up.

3. The mother-effing SONGS

There’s a reason early-’60s Dylan was often described as the Voice of his Generation (a moniker he hated, by the way). The songs were—and still are—just that good. So it was a thrill for me to hear multiple verses or nearly full versions of many of them during the film, not just snippets. And it wasn’t just the hits; there were a handful of deep cuts from that era as well. As mentioned above, Chalamet (and Barbaro as Baez) more than does the music justice. I suspect a few non-Dylan obsessives might get a little impatient during the extended song scenes, although I know of at least one casual fan who was still raving about the music a few days after she saw the film.

As for the movie’s plot, well, the script checks off the requisite boxes as it jumps from one pivotal moment in Dylan’s career to the next, but that’s the type of storytelling we’ve come to expect from most biopics, and I’m totally on board with it. (If you want more abstract Dylan stories on film, there’s always 2007’s “I’m Not There.”)

I think what I love most about biopics overall is the chance to feel like I’m up close and personal with these beloved musicians at key points in their lives, knowing full well these moments are not depicted with 100% accuracy. Watching gifted actors over the years like Chalamet, Phoenix, and Rami Malek completely transform themselves into musicians I’ve been listening to my whole life will always be a blast.

The best news for all my fellow music biopic lovers is that “A Complete Unknown” is just the start of what could be a jam-packed couple of years. From “Better Man” currently in theaters (Robbie Williams as a chimpanzee? Sure, why not) to the upcoming “Deliver Me From Nowhere” (“The Bear’s” Jeremy Allen White as “Nebraska”-era Bruce Springsteen) and a host of other films in various stages of development centering on everyone from Frank Sinatra to Keith Moon to Janis Joplin to Kiss to Michael Jackson to Joey Ramone, music biopics are clearly a hot property these days.

Will all of them be as entertaining as the Dylan flick? Doubtful.

Will they be weighed down by one cliché after another? Probably.

Will I still be excited to watch almost each and every one? Absolutely.