A Complete Unknown first reviews: Timothee Chalamet is ‘convincing’ in ‘conventional’ Bob Dylan biopic
A Complete Unknown first reviews: Timothee Chalamet delivers a “bright and believable” turn, but James Mangold's film is "disappointingly unambitious'.
A Complete Unknown first reviews: When it was announced that Timothee Chalamet, 28, will play a young Bob Dylan in a biopic helmed by James Mangold, the internet had its doubts. In fact, it took the Nobel Prize-winning singer-songwriter to give a stamp of approval for the skeptics to stop raising eyebrows. The first reviews of the film are out, and if they are anything to go by, Timothee's casting seems to be the least of the issues. (Also Read: Timothee Chalamet responds after Bob Dylan says actor will nail his role in upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown)
Timothee is ‘bright and believable’
The Guardian notes, “Timothée Chalamet’s hilarious and seductive portrayal of Bob Dylan makes him the smirking, scowling and unwilling leader of his generation, whose refusal to submit to the crucifixion of folk-acoustic purity is his own crucifixion.” BBC echoes, “Fortunately, it turns out that Timmy is brilliant here and completely believable, better than the film itself. He sings and plays guitar and harmonica with apparent ease, and creates a thoroughly convincing avatar of Dylan.”
Earlier, in his first statement about his upcoming biographical drama A Complete Unknown, singing legend Bob Dylan had praised Timothee Chalamet, calling him a "brilliant actor," who he is sure will "completely believable" as him. His approval shut up the critics who doubted Timothee since the very first announcement.
‘Conventional’ biopic
However, IndieWire calls A Complete Unknown “frustratingly anonymous.” “A Complete Unknown presents one of the most forcefully idiosyncratic figures of our lifetimes as a creature so inextricable from the culture he shaped that it all but deprives him of any agency of his own, a feeling exemplified by the film’s unwillingness to engage with its political context,” the review states. “Frustratingly, too, for a story about a poetic genius, it struggles to find something fresh to say," Empire says on similar lines.
A Complete Unknown is based on Elijah Wald's 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric. It will focus on Dylan's controversial decision in 1965 to embrace the electric guitar, alienating many of his original fans. The film is slated to release in US cinemas on Christmas Day.
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