A Complete Unknown (#633)


Happy New Year all. If the movie I saw today bodes well for 2025 then maybe movies are headed for a banner year because this one was a fine one, and I liked it very much. A COMPLETE UNKNOWN is supposed to be the true story of singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, and I may be one of the few people in the world who doesn't know very much about him, although I did recognize his name and some of the songs he sang. He is very well played by Timothèe Chalamet (what on earth possessed his parents to spell his name with an accent mark?)  Dylan arrives in New York from the midwest with his guitar in search of his heroes, folks singers Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and goes on to be an incredibly successful folk singer/songwriter on social issues and inspiring major changes in the music business. He comes across as not too nice a person, particularly in his relationships with women, one of whom is Joan Baez whose name, like Dylan's, I heard but knew nothing about. Despite my shortcomings, I thought the music was excellent and the settings in NYC and elsewhere looked very authentic. The cast in general was very good, and so was the directing. All in all, a nice way to spend 2 hours and 21 minutes. 96% of audiences along with 79% of critics joined me in giving Unknown a thumbs up.

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