'A Complete Unknown' feels authentic just like Bob Dylan's music | Oscars 2025

Bob Dylan has always remained a mysterious figure -- aloof yet familiar, daring yet soft-spoken. His music defined him, and his lyrics even more, earning him the Nobel Prize in Literature, an award that had once opened room for controversy. That, however, is a different matter altogether, and one that does not find a mention in James Mangold's 'A Complete Unknown'. 

Instead, this Oscar-nominated film featuring Timothee Chalamet is dedicated to Bob Dylan's entry into the folk music scenario during the early 1960s as he left his home in Hibbing, Minnesota, and took a ride to New Jersey to meet his idol -- singer/ songwriter Woody Guthrie who is sick and dying in a hospital there.

The movie is not about that short journey, but about what happens when he finally meets the man who was a central figure in American folk music. The movie maps his beginnings and his transition from pure folk to electric, a move that was met with resistance in the 60s.

Bob's life has inspired several books, documentaries, and movies, including 'Don't Look Back' and 'I'm Not There', some of which, are considered to have captured Bob's spirit accurately. But 'The Complete Unknown' is brief and straightforward, trying to pinpoint what the man was, without having a hard time pretending he was someone else. The makers, however, may be accused of omitting some crucial factors, including Bob's struggle with drug addiction, among others, which had existed even during his early days of fame. However, the artistic making and production design quality and performances and of course, the songs make it an impressive watch, lingering in your mind for a long while, even after the film's credits role.

In fact, the songs will blow your mind, not only because they were written and sung by Bob Dylan, but because the main cast, including Timothee and Margaret Barbaro who played Joan Baez, the popular singer who joined Bob in his tours across the country, sang by themselves for the movie.

Margaret was a delight to watch and hear -- as a singer and actor and it was her chemistry with Timothee that worked wonders for the film. Timothee too, was a delight, transitioning into the aloof character Bob always showed himself to be, even as he tried to push those who loved him, especially his girlfriend Sylvie and Joan, to a distance.

The film also wonderfully captures the world of folk music and how much it meant to American society, which was in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement during those days.