A Complete Unknown Parent Guide

“The battle outside ragin’/Will soon shake your windows/And rattle your walls/For the times they are a-changin’.” Written in 1963, Bob Dylan’s (Timothée Chalamet) fierce and uncompromising anthem was a clarion call for his generation. In A Complete Unknown, director James Mangold attempts to show how Dylan and his music both shaped and rode the currents of his time.

It’s an ambitious task and whether or not it succeeds depends entirely on the viewer’s expectations. If you’re looking for a film that captures the zeitgeist of the time; that pulses with the raw, blazing energy of Dylan’s best work, then this movie is a home run. But it you want a film that illuminates the musician’s inner life, you’re going to be disappointed.

A Complete Unknown is at its best when Timothée Chalamet is belting out Dylan’s classic songs. Chalamet lacks Dylan’s distinctively raspy voice, but he’s got the passion and his covers are gritty and energetic. His interactions with other artists – Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) – also add emotion to the story and center it in the cultural milieu of the 1960s folk revival.

The passion and conflict ramp up in Dylan’s encounters with the legendary Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) – his sometimes lover, fellow performer, and competitor. This is where the film falters. Dylan’s turbulent relationship with both Baez and Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) feel poorly developed, with choppy narrative lines and incomplete arcs. It’s possible that the relationships might be easier to understand if the dialogue were clearer: Chalamet mumbles his way through many of his lines, making conversations difficult to follow. This gives potential viewers a difficult dilemma: watch the film in theater and enjoy the music in full surround sound or wait and stream it at home with subtitles.

Also frustrating is the film’s R-rating. The twenty-plus sexual expletives are unnecessary, but they are the prime reason for the MPA rating. The movie also features brief violence, implied sex and scenes of social drinking (plus a very drunk Johnny Cash trying to drive). The frequent smoking is, sadly, historically accurate.

To be honest, I doubt that the Restricted rating will deter the film’s target audience. This movie wasn’t made for teenagers – it’s geared directly at Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers who want to listen to Bob Dylan’s greatest hits for two hours. Getting a story about artistic integrity, controlling your career, and following your muse isn’t the point – but it’s a decent bonus.