A Complete Unknown

Christmas Night, Jack, Drew, Carmen, Sharon and I saw A Complete Unknown at Cinemark Century Greenback Lane 16 and XD. Over the last sixteen years, we have had a tradition of seeing a movie on Christmas Day. Additionally, the movie fits into our annual journey to see all of the films that might be nominated for an Oscar. GoldDerby currently has A Complete Unknown with the eleventh highest Best Picture Odds.

A Complete Unknown is a biographical musical drama film directed by James Mangold, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jay Cocks. It is based on the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald. The film's title is derived from the chorus of Dylan's 1965 single "Like a Rolling Stone".

Timothée Chalamet (who also produces) stars as Dylan. The supporting cast includes Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro, Boyd Holbrook, Dan Fogler, Norbert Leo Butz, and Scoot McNairy.

The biopic follows Bob Dylan's journey from an aspiring folk singer to a rock and roll icon. The film chronicles his rise to fame in the 1960s New York City music scene. It explores his relationships with key figures like Pete Seeger (Norton) and Joan Baez (Barbaro). The movie culminates with Dylan's controversial electric performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

I liked the movie more than Sharon did. While Chalamet is one of Sharon's favorite actors, Bob Dylan is one of her least favorite musicians. Sharon noted that there is a lot of singing in the movie. Chalamet sings 40 Dylan songs in the film, while also playing guitars and harmonicas. All performances were recorded live while filming. I think that the movie will be nominated for Best Picture and Chalamet will be nominated for Best Actor.

I was surprised to realize that I don't have a Bob Dylan song in the Soundtrack for my Life. One of my roommates during my freshman year in college played a lot of Dylan. The song Hurricane came out in November of 1975; the roommate played it frequently. I might add a Bob Dylan song this year...