A Complete Unknown

"The ballad of a true original."

2024 2h 21m EN

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 1,583

DramaMusic

Synopsis

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New York, early 1960s. Against the backdrop of a vibrant music scene and tumultuous cultural upheaval, an enigmatic 19-year-old from Minnesota arrives in the West Village with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music.

“The ballad of a true original.”

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Cast

Timothée Chalamet
Bob Dylan
Edward Norton
Pete Seeger
Elle Fanning
Sylvie Russo
Monica Barbaro
Joan Baez
Scoot McNairy
Woody Guthrie
Dan Fogler
Albert Grossman
Boyd Holbrook
Johnny Cash
Will Harrison
Bob Neuwirth

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Mangold
Writers: Jay Cocks, James Mangold
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $65M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 2 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

221+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by James Mangold, shot by Phedon Papamichael. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Andrew Buckland shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Timothée Chalamet and Edward Norton and Elle Fanning carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The ballad of a true original.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt11563598 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Mangold directs. Phedon Papamichael behind the camera. Andrew Buckland cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $65M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 2 years ago.
3221+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by James Mangold, shot by Phedon Papamichael. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Andrew Buckland shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Timothée Chalamet and Edward Norton and Elle Fanning carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "The ballad of a true original.".
8IMDB entry: tt11563598 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 13 themes, including "new york city", "based on novel or book", "musician", "biography".
10Released under 17 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Phedon Papamichael
Editing: Andrew Buckland
Production design: François Audouy
Costume design: Arianne Phillips
Makeup / hair: Jaime Leigh McIntosh
VFX supervisor: Julian Hutchens
Sound: Paul Massey
Stunt coordinator: Dean Neistat
Runtime: 141 min · 2h 21m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $65,000,000
Box office: $140,508,652
Return: 216% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: A Complete Unknown (2024)

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James Mangold

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-01-21
★ 7/10
I grew up in an household that loved Bob Dylan and Joan Baez (though not equally from parent to parent!), and I think it really only instilled in me a sense of contrariness. The more my dad banged on about how great Dylan and his lyrics were, the more that fell of deaf childish ears. Sitting down now I was worried I'd revert to my self of fifty-odd years ago, but thanks to a pretty convincing effort from Timothée Chalamet I actually found my feet moving - and not towards the door! It doesn't do him any harm that he resembles the man, and he manages to convey something of the spirit of this poet who, upon hearing that Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) is on his last legs in hospital, travels to New York to track him down. He finds Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) at the bedside of a sick man, plays him a song he's written about his hero and now thanks to some patronage from Seeger he starts to get gigs, meets "Sylvie" (Elle Fanning) then the already successful Baez (Monica Barbara) before taking the world - and Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) by storm. It's a classy biopic that, though chronological, isn't just a straight history of the man. It shows his character, warts and all, as he comes to terms with his success and some of the temptations and fickleness that goes along with it. Many critics say Dylan is the worst singer of his own songs and Chalamet keeps up that tradition offering some authentic sounding, but different enough, interpretations of some of the man's most recognisable songs. Barbaro also turns in well as Baez, though I found her voice just a little too operatic and not quite as effective. The production is clearly high-end with loads of attention to the detail, but essentially this is really a chance for Chalamet to show he is more than just a (very) skinny boy with floppy hair. Purists of the artiste may hate it, but I think it quite powerfully characterises this group of free thinking individuals in a 1960s America dealing with a presidential assassination, communist threats and a general sense of paranoia amongst a public that was clearly crying out for something to hope for. Dylan et al delivered some of that, and this comes across well.
Brent Marchant2025-01-28
★ 6/10
Tribute biographies have become an increasingly popular film genre in recent years, though, truthfully, they’re not all of the same caliber. Content and authenticity play significant roles in their overall quality, but, as experience has shown, these traits can vary widely, depending on the picture. As for writer-director James Mangold’s homage to musician-folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet), the film presents viewers with a mixed bag on these fronts. While this effort seems to mostly get things right in matters of authenticity, it comes up somewhat short on content, despite its protracted 2:21:00 runtime, what should amount to sufficient duration to nail down the most crucial cinematic particulars. “A Complete Unknown” follows Dylan from his arrival in New York in 1961, where he quickly became the latest sensation on the Greenwich Village folk music scene, through his rise to stardom as an emerging music industry icon and culminating in his controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, where he traded in his acoustic guitar for an electric model, a switch met with mixed reactions but that launched him in innovative new directions musically. Along the way, viewers are let in on passing scenes from his personal life, such as his friendships with fellow musicians Pete Seeger (Oscar nominee Edward Norton), Johnny Cash (Boyd Holbrook) and Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), as well as his passionate but stormy romances with Sylvie Russo (a pseudonym for real life love interest Suze Rotolo) (National Board of Review Award winner Elle Fanning) and fellow folk singer Joan Baez (Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro). But, regrettably, much of the narrative is little more than a loosely strung together collection of sequences designed to showcase an array of Dylan’s greatest hits from the early days of his career, as well as those of his peers. While the songs are indeed capably performed by the actors themselves, after a while though, the film feels more like an anthology of music videos than an insightful biography. In fact, Dylan’s character comes across as largely enigmatic and inscrutable, a take on his persona alleged to be true to form but that doesn’t offer a great deal of enlightenment into his nature – that is, other than often making him look like a first-class jerk (the noble content of his social activism compositions notwithstanding). Consequently, this candid but somewhat unflattering approach almost makes one wonder whether a protagonist like Dylan is innately worthy of such an homage, even if the finished product is on point (and ironically lends credence to the meaning of the film’s title, whether intentional or not). All things considered, on balance, the filmmaker’s effort here is passable as a capably made tribute bio, with generally fine performances (especially Fanning, who genuinely should have earned supporting actress award kudos over her somewhat overrated co-star), commendable period piece production values and a fine soundtrack (if one is an ardent Dylan fan, that is, something I honestly can’t claim to be). But is this release really worthy of all the awards season attention it has garnered? That seems like something of a stretch to me, but, given the lackluster nature of the crop of 2024 awards season candidates, the pickings have admittedly been somewhat slim. Devotees of the protagonist are virtually certain to come away from this offering suitably impressed, though the rest of us are more likely to heave a modest shoulder shrug and move on to the next movie.
r96sk2025-01-31
★ 8/10
<em>'A Complete Unknown'</em> is a biopic worth watching. I only know of Bob Dylan by name and possibly some vague recognition of a few of his songs, as is usual for me it seems; uncultured swine. Therefore, I was only coming into this to see how it came out as a film - it's very good! Timothée Chalamet's portrayal is impressive for the large majority, I will say his schtick comes across as a little forced in one or two parts (only one or two) and I also had difficulty totally understanding him in a few moments (only a few). Edward Norton is good too, I thought he'd feature more; if only because I saw him on the promo trail with Chalamet a lot. Elle Fanning and Monica Barbaro offer noteworthy performances, everyone on the cast is perfectly fine to be fair. The music seems well done to me, again I'm not someone who definitively knows Dylan's work but it felt well shown. It's possibly too prevalent, which is a weird thing to say about a musician biopic but there's a lot of music in this. The end at the festival is the scene that I'll remember most from this, the sound design is particularly excellent; was practically bouncing in my seat due to the noise. If I was to mention any negatives, or at least things that aren't proper positives, it would be the pacing and run time. Not that I'd explicitly class those as bad parts of this though.