r/Oscars • u/sinas35 • Jan 01 '25
Review I went to the theaters to watch the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown I thought it was really good.
I thought it was a bit long and not too much is going on. It’s only covering a portion of Bob Dylan’s life from when he first started singing folk music to doing electric rock music.
It doesn’t really go too deep into his psyche and how he writes and makes music, he’s just living his life and writing things that just come to him, I like that about this movie. It shows how he likes to keep things close to the chest and he tries to act all mysterious and cool but in reality, he is just a very private person who doesn’t really know how to express himself except through his songs. Timothée Chalamet’s performance is excellent. He nailed Bob Dylan to a tee with his mannerisms, his voice and his singing and guitar playing.
What separates this movie from the last biopic on a famous music icon that James Mangold directed Walk the Line, and I like the most about this movie is how it was less a traditional biopic exploring a singer’s whole life and more so a celebration of music and bringing people together during a time of social and political upheaval. It was a celebration of folk music altogether, as well as the music from that particular time, and you get to see it through Bob Dylan’s point of view.
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u/FwampFwamp88 Jan 02 '25
Thought it was pretty average. Chalamet did a great job singing and playing the guitar, but I just see him as timothee chalamet. The climax seemed forced.
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u/sinas35 Jan 02 '25
I see Chalamet as himself in other movies, but in this one? I dunno, when he does that voice and he has the hair and the sunglasses and the way he walks and smokes his cigarette, I see Dylan.
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u/OwlLevel8663 Jan 02 '25
I also thoroughly enjoyed the film but I am a little surprised that Elle Fanning's "I felt like a plate" speech has not been memed into oblivion.
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u/fkootrsdvjklyra Jan 02 '25
If you want a deeper exploration of Dylan's psyche, check out I'm Not There. It's the superior Dylan biopic.
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u/glorbaby Jan 03 '25
My problem with this movie is that i literally learned nothing new about Bob Dylan. The acting was spectacular, the story boring.
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u/Affectionate-Fig157 Jan 04 '25
This is a film to introduce Dylan’s incredible music to younger people and to tell the complex journey he took in those 4 years in a big Hollywood movie. I’m a Dylan fanatic and the film inspired me and was a sort of vindication for this man being my lodestar for my entire life since age 14.
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u/Jobel718 Jan 08 '25
As for me. Unfortunately it was a different time And young people can’t connect with it.When I saw the movie there was mostly people in there 60’s 70’s age group in the audience
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u/momoftheraisin Jan 05 '25
Yet despite all these flaws in the movie, I say Timothée Chalamet It's going to pick up the best actor Oscar for his performance.
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u/sinas35 Jan 05 '25
It’s between him and Adrien, we’ll see how the Golden Globes pan out.
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u/momoftheraisin Jan 06 '25
Ahhh...good point. Have you seen The Brutalist? It's not even out yet here. He's well overdue, though - you may well be right!
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u/sinas35 Jan 06 '25
I did get a chance to finally see The Brutalist actually… it was an incredible journey from beginning to end about an immigrant trying to pursue their “American Dream” and the toll it takes on them. Adrien Brody was phenomenal in his performance and was well deserving of the Golden Globe award win for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, and I’m glad Brady Corbet won for Best Director as well.
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u/Gumby2112 Jan 10 '25
A Complete Unknown blew me away. I cannot stop thinking about it. A special film does that.
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u/Toniachelle Feb 18 '25
I watched it yesterday. It was fantastic. I’m 41 years old and looking forward to exploring Bob Dylan’s music. TC needs to do a clean sweep this award season.
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u/Appropriate-Cow-5814 Mar 01 '25
I only saw this last night and it was great! Chalamet did a great job.
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u/Revolutionary-Bat583 Mar 02 '25
Very fast paced movie. I really loved and thought Timothy and the rest of cadt were really great...Oscar worthy!
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u/Specialist-Target-74 28d ago
I loved the movie and the Dylan goes eletric thing, it was really god But I don't thing that's the most interesting part of his life either the best songs of him. I would love to hear Just like a woman or i want you in a movie... but thats way after
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u/kickstrum91 Jan 01 '25
I saw the one with cate Blanchett I’m good - Hollywood is so dried up they have to rehash biopics. Love Bob Dylan but not even remotely interested in seeing this
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u/MatttheJ Jan 02 '25
Is this post some sort of bot marketing thing because your take is way too reasonable to be downvoted bombed. In the past few years we've been hit with a constant stream of music biopics that all have a fairly similar tired structure and now we're back around to having a biopic of a guy who already had a biopic.
Like the David Bowie one the other year where we'd already had that before too.
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u/Dianagorgon Jan 03 '25
There are a lot of fake posts, bots and astroturfing on Reddit prior to the Oscars. Posts that are critical of certain movies or actors are massively downvoted because the idiots who run these campaigns somehow think the posts being hidden on Reddit will have an impact on whether a movie or actor wins an award. It's also used a form of intimidation to ensure people are silenced because most people don't enjoy being downvoted. It's gotten really bad in entertainment, television and Oscar race subs. I can't say if that is what is happening in this discussion but Chalamet, Zendaya and a few other popular actors seem to have very aggressive PR people. Last year people would get massively downvoted for politely posting that they didn't think realistically Zendaya was going to get an Oscar nomination for Challengers.
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u/RoxasIsTheBest Jan 02 '25
It has to be. The post and some of the top comments just don't sound genuine, and feel like they come from a different sub.
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u/MatttheJ Jan 02 '25
To be honest I think companies are starting to buy up accounts for online marketing way more recently. In a lot of subs for a lot of different hobbies I feel like I'm seeing posts or comments that just don't seem entierly natural.
Or I'm seeing either very basic but positive comments get upvoted like crazy or even slightly negative comments getting downvoted straight away even if it's a fairly common sentiment in normal posts or just normal everyday conversations.
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u/fkootrsdvjklyra Jan 02 '25
I've seen both, and I still think Cate Blanchett is the definitive movie Bob Dylan.
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u/blu2007 Jan 05 '25
Quit trying to make this film relevant. Regardless of how Timothy made you “feel”, nobody under the age of 50 is watching this movie because of Bob Dylan. Biopics are Oscar bait films camouflaged as “important” films. Do not reward such pandering film with your attention.
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u/tylerw1981 Feb 08 '25
43 here, took my son to see what I thought was a great movie. And guess what... We watched it because of Bob Dylan.
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u/dank_bobswaget Jan 01 '25
Bob Dylan has to be the most overrated artist on the planet, I don’t even hate his music but people act like he was God’s gift to song writing when he was just a pretty good guy for his time
Tim did good as him though, but my prediction is that it’ll get 3-4 nominations and 0 wins
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u/TreatmentBoundLess Jan 01 '25
Pretty good guy for his time?
Curious, who are some of your favourite songwriters?
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u/dank_bobswaget Jan 01 '25
I could name plenty of songwriters I personally prefer over him, but that’s not really my point. Do we really need to give this guy a NOBEL PRIZE and 12 movies where they treat him like his lyrics are divine and impossible for any mere mortal to write? Although I think Lennon/McCartney were better songwriters I also hate Yesterday (2019) for overly sensationalizing the music and butchering the context in which these songs are written, just like these Dylan biopics. It just comes across so tacky to watch another film of “oh wow this Superman figure landed on earth with a guitar and is blessing us”
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u/TreatmentBoundLess Jan 01 '25
I hear you regarding the movie(s). I think they’re unnecessary too.
I just disagree with Dylan being a good guy for his time is all.
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Jan 02 '25
After seeing the movie, I agree. I expected to find out he was interesting and passionate. Just came off like a pretentious asshole that’s annoyed people like his music. And am I supposed to be impressed he didn’t go to the Nobel prize ceremony? Wow, Bob shits on everything, what an amazing man who’s just too cool for school.
Based on your downvotes, I am about to get downvoted to hell. See you there, Satan 🫡
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u/Then-Gur-4519 Jan 02 '25
He can be interesting, passionate, and pretentious all at the same time. I think the movie did a good job portraying all of that. I don’t know if you’re meant to think wow this guy is so cool at the end, or that the movie is mandating that reaction. It portrays him as a jerk quite a bit
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u/WhatTheCluck802 Jan 02 '25
I haven’t seen this film but accept my upvote for agreeing with you that Dylan is massively overrated. John Prine wipes the floor with him insofar as songwriting talent goes, among the folk/americana type genre for that generation.
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u/o0flatCircle0o Jan 02 '25
I was shocked and impressed that Timothee sang all the songs and played the guitar and harmonica. You don’t hear the real Dylan ever in the film, not even the end credits music. It’s all Tim.