A Complete Unknown (2024) Dir: James Mangold

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In truth, I had little desire to see James Mangold's musical biopic of the iconic folk-rock artist Bob Dylan. I am beginning to sound like a broken record on this subject, but I believe there are far too many biopics at the moment. It feels like another way to avoid producing original stories. Regardless of my skepticism towards the genre, I was still intrigued by the prospect of this film, thanks to its generally positive reception and Best Picture nomination.

I enjoyed some, if not all, of the cinematography the film had to offer. I liked the idea of making the film look like it was shot on film - the grainy nature of the footage gave it a little more character and a bit of a retro feel. Aside from that, the film's visuals didn't overly standout to me - that's not to call it an ugly film, merely an unexceptional one. Just to make a brief point on the soundtrack; the music was good, but hearing Chalamet sing the same two lines of the same song about four times got a little old.

Honestly, the main problem with this film was its narrative. The story felt extremely typical of the genre, and, in all honesty, fairly generic; a very talented man makes it big in his desired industry and leaves emotional carnage and no-longer-useful friends in his wake. Stop me if you think you've heard this one before. I came out of the film with a lower opinion of the man it depicted than I had before it, which is pretty amusing to me.

Timothée Chalamet's singing and guitar playing was admittedly very impressive, but his delivery of dialogue was just a little bit bizarre. I understand that he was playing a character, but that's kind of just it; I was acutely aware that I was watching Timothée Chalamet playing Bob Dylan, as opposed to just watching Bob Dylan. That might sound strange to say, but when Chalamet has been so good in other roles, it becomes all too clear when he's not quite at the races.

In regards to the supporting cast, I felt that the trio of Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, and Monica Barbaro were all very good, and provided some moments of genuinely brilliant acting, especially Norton and Barbaro, who provided the two best performances of anyone in the film, including Chalamet.

In regards to other names, I thought that Scoot McNairy and Dan Fogler were fine in their supporting roles, though not overly exceptional. I also want to give a mention to Boyd Holbrook for his genuinely hilarious Johnny Cash portrayal. It was the most entertaining aspect of the film by a mile.

Overall, although I understand that there is, and likely will always be, a place for biopics in cinema, I just wish that some of them felt more unique and interesting. This didn't feel either of those things to me. It did nothing for me, quite simply. It had some good acting, and told the story it wanted to tell about as well as it could've, but it wasn't an interesting or overly entertaining film, for the most part. I don't feel like anyone will be talking about this as a great film in a few years. It feels like the kind of film that most people will just forget about, myself included.