My brother Nate and I discussed A Complete Unknown a few days ago, and he pointed out that the film isn't meant to be a biography, rather it's another contribution to patchwork of mystique that enshrouds Bob Dylan. It would be futile to make a movie with the goal of explaining Dylan, since he is a singular character in history, who we as regular people, could never fully comprehend. If you can accept the film based on this premise, then I believe that it's possible to enjoy the experience. I liked that so much screentime was devoted to Dylan's music; it was fun to see the range of Dylan's moods, from the self-loathing indignation while playing at a dinner party, to the quiet heart-felt sense of discovery during the solitude of song writing. It was enjoyable to see Dylan making music, since that's what I was there for. I also liked the amount of effort that Timothée Chalamet devoted to his depiction of Dylan; while Chalamet didn't become Dylan in the same way that Val Kilmer became Jim Morrison in The Doors, the fact that Chalamet sang so many songs is impressive on its own. I didn't like the guy who played Johnny Cash, not that there was necessarily anything wrong with his performance, but this was clearly the biggest lost opportunity in modern cinema; I would argue that a prerequisite to making this movie would be having Joaquin Phoenix reprise his role as Cash. It's really a shame that they didn't make this happen.
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