Is This Timothée Chalamet’s Oscar-winning Role? Thoughts on ‘A Complete Unknown’

To answer the question posed above: it could be. Chalamet’s portrayal of legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan — complete with live singing, guitar playing, and harmonica blowing — is without a doubt impressive. He captures Dylan’s dirty, aloof-yet-charming personality in a compelling way, convincing the audience he knows things about Dylan that they don’t as he brings his characterization of the artist alive. While Chalamet shines in the star role, he’s flanked by an up-and-down supporting cast, resulting in a fun — but nonetheless flawed — musician biopic that is set to get award-season buzz despite unlikely paths to winning outside of Chalamet.

Chalamet, Norton, and Barbaro rise to the top

As I mentioned, Chalamet was excellent as Dylan, even if some purists will nitpick how he got X wrong or missed Y — they will never be happy with anyone being Dylan other than Dylan himself. It felt like he evolved with Dylan’s evolution. He was convincingly arrogant, hiding it better early but allowing us to see the ego that made Dylan great. His impression and musical ability was beyond impressive. Chalamet’s one fatal flaw was that, at times, he was too conventionally attractive as Dylan. Dylan’s appeal comes from his unattractiveness, his peculiarity, while Chalamet is simply too pretty to be convincingly Dylan at times. There were points where I felt he could be Dylan, there were others where he was, to me, just Chalamet playing Dylan.

Edward Norton was the other standout, playing folk musician Pete Seeger, one of Dylan’s early mentors and an artist that lived and breathed folk. As Dylan’s career took off and his personality grew, Seeger was the audience’s look into the old guard’s view of the changing landscape of American folk music brought on by Dylan. Norton delivered a strong, reserved performance that entertainingly juxtaposed Chalamet’s rebellious Dylan.

While Chalamet and Norton were, in my eyes, the clear strongest two on set, Monica Barbaro should not be overlooked as Joan Baez. Barbaro had clear chemistry with Chalamet, noticeably igniting sparks when the two shared the screen — a scene in Dylan’s bedroom and one on the stage of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival nearly starting a full blaze. Not only that, but Barbaro’s singing talent was undeniable. From her opening moment with “House of the Rising Sun” to her rendition of “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Barbaro charmed. It left me wanting a lot more of her, and a lot less of Elle Fanning’s Sylvie Russo. 

Not a fan of Fanning

On the topic of performance’s, I was not thrilled with Fanning as Sylvie. I struggled sensing the gravity of her character, her emotions felt forced, and she felt stiff in her interactions with Chalamet. Sylvie is meant to be an intellectual equal to Dylan, a true force to be reckoned with that enticed Dylan with her wit and even inspired him. In A Complete Unknown, Sylvie seemed to solely be a sad spur in his side. Sylvie and Dylan part ways twice in the movie — neither makes you feel anything. This may not be Fanning’s fault, but she doesn’t overcome any story building flaws with her acting. 

Most disappointingly, the moment that feels as if it is meant to be the emotional pinnacle in the film feels almost empty. I know I should feel sad when Sylvie leaves Dylan at the Newport, but there’s nothing there to actually make me feel it. It doesn’t feel genuine. It feels obvious. And frankly, it feels forced into the story. I chock it up to 50% a disappointment from a good actress in Fanning and 50% poor character building from the screenplay.

Unfortunately, another biopic

In the end, A Complete Unknown falls face first into the same pitfalls most biopics stumble into. It’s another memoir with nothing to say. While it tells the story of Dylan’s rise to fame and move into rock, it doesn’t have much to say. It doesn’t need to have some huge life lesson, but it doesn’t even seem to have much to say about Dylan.

It also struggles with the supporting cast. Every person A Complete Unknown introduces feels like some type of Marvel superhero reveal. It’s a bit corny, and something we’ve a lot of biopics do — for some reason. If the actor you cast isn’t obviously the person you want them to emulate, or the audience doesn’t know who they are, it isn’t important enough to do some big reveal. Just say their name normally in conversation if it’s really that important. 

The formula has also gotten tiresome. There are too many musician biopics. Out of all of them, A Complete Unknown was a good one. It was entertaining, engaging, and fun. But, to be truly great in the future, musician biopics are going to need to break the mold — A Complete Unknown didn’t.

Awards

There’s probably not much room for accolades to be given to A Complete Unknown. I expect nominations for Chalamet in Best Actor and a nomination for Best PIcture as well (but only because the Academy likes musician biopics more than it should and because Chalamet’s performance will vault it into consideration). I think there’s a long shot for Norton as a Supporting Actor nomination, and it might get a nod for adapted screenplay because it is based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! But don’t expect much from any of the awards categories, and Chalamet’s path isn’t cut and dried. As a young, 29-year-old actor, he may have to put in some more time before the Academy is willing to give him the award over an older nominee. That’s not how it should be, but it’s how it is. Not to mention Adrien Brody and company will be tough to beat regardless. So, I don’t expect Chalamet to win, but it wouldn’t shock me if he managed to pull it off with a truly inspiring performance.