Review 737: A Complete Unknown

  

Based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald; Set in the influential New York music scene of the early 60's, 19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts - his songs and mystique becoming a worldwide sensation - culminating in his groundbreaking electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

The screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks (known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese) feels bare bones - there isn't much of a story too it, mainly focusing on Dylan's rise to fame and his relationships. There are some wonderful little vingettes of him performing, buying shirts and being mobed by girls. The film cleverly and intelligently uses events in the 60s such as the Cuban Missile Crisis to highlight Dylan's music within the context of the era.

The cinematography is beautiful, giving the film a rich and warm look  the costumes are colourfully and expertly reflect the rugged  look of the early 60's.

Timothée Chalamet is outstanding playing Bob Dylan expertly playing

Monica Barbaro from TVs Chicago PD and Top Gun Maverick is fabulous playing Joan Baez. Dylan and Baez relationship is a tempestuous one,

Elle Fanning  playing Sylvie Russo, a character clearly based on Suze Rotolo, Dylan's real life girlfriend. There's good chemistry between Chalamet and Fanning, but there's excellent chemistry between Chalamet and Barbaro

Edward Norton Pete Seeger. Seeger is depicted as a kind of mentor figure for Dylan,

Boyd Holbrook is  playing Johnny Cash. He only has a couple of scenes, but they're very memorable and of central importance and he brings the right amount of boyish swagger and charm required for the role

Scoot McNairy is a standout playing singer-songwriter, Woody Guthrie who Dylan idolised delivering a mesmirising performance f