January 24-27 | Friday-Monday | 2 hours, 21 minutes | Rated R |
It may be that Bob Dylan is simply an artist impossible to understand (as a person and as a singer), but this biography does a great job of giving us a little insight into how he got started on the musical scene. Director James Mangold also helmed the Johnny & June Cash biopic Walk the Line, and brings the same deft touch to this film, starring Timothée Chalamet, Elle Fanning, Edward Norton, and more. Chalamet demonstrates absolute mastery of his craft by not just acting but singing like the man who meant so much to so many — it’s truly a performance for the ages (and the awards shows — it was nominated for 3 Golden Globes including Best Drama and Best Actor, and will no doubt be nominated for multiple Oscars when those are finally announced amid fire delays). It currently has a 96% Popcornmeter (audience score) on Rotten Tomatoes.
“A maddeningly enjoyable piece of pop cinema.” -Adam Graham, Detroit News
“A Complete Unknown is utterly fascinating, capturing a moment in time when songs had weight, when they could move the culture — even if the singer who made them was as puzzling as a rolling stone.” -Mark Kennedy, Associated Press
“A film that, despite the magnitude of its undertaking, is accessible and exciting, but never tries to idolize an artist who is presented both at the height of his genius and his most egocentric, contradictory and even unpleasant.” -Sergia Burstein, Los Angeles Times
“So many things could have gone wrong with a Bob Dylan biopic that it’s a small miracle that James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown is not just watchable but actually slyly observant and surprisingly compelling.” -Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle
“Timothée Chalamet gives an Oscar-worthy performance in one of the best films of 2024.” -Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
“I have no idea whether the movie will renew his legend for the next generation. But I can’t imagine a better cinematic effort to remind all of us who are Boomers or Gen X why we adore the man.” -Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal
“The performances are fantastic, all of them.” -Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
“Chalamet, who used the pandemic years to prepare for this performance, achieves something close to magic with the sound.” -Peter Howell, Toronto Star
“It is not that the movie tries and fails to help us understand Bob Dylan; on the contrary, it recognizes that Dylan defies that kind of simplification. And that he doesn’t need it and we should not attempt it. Anything we need to know is in the songs.” -Nell Minow, Movie Mom
“Timothée Chalamet acts and sings the young Bob Dylan to showstopping perfection, catching the mystery man in the exhilarating act of inventing himself as multitudes, always creating and always in the wind” -Peter Travers, ABC News
A Complete Unknown opens at The Clyde on Friday, January 24, and plays Friday, Saturday, & Monday at 7:30, plus Sunday at 2:00.
