Before my best friend, Sarah, returned to Manchester, United Kingdom, where she is currently living and attending grad school, we knew we had to see the new Timothée Chalamet movie together. We are both big Timmy fans (members of Club Chalamet, if you will), having had our first transformative experience watching the actor when we saw a Call Me by Your Name matinee together in 2017.

Last year when she was home for the holidays we saw Wonka, which I enjoyed. I don’t care what anyone says, Timmy was great in the role! This year it was time for us to be seated for A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic.

We went to Landmark’s Ritz 5 in Old City, my personal favorite movie theater in Philadelphia, on a Friday night. Both of us weren’t sure what to expect from the movie. We heard Chalamet was getting a lot of praise for his embodiment of Dylan, but neither of us knew too much about the actual subject matter of the movie. Before seeing the film, I didn’t know I knew so many Bob Dylan songs and would have said I knew one or two.

A Complete Unknown was primarily about Dylan’s quick rise to stardom and then the tensions that arose when he transitioned from his folk roots to a more electric sound. Dylan’s well-documented love affair with fellow folk musician Joan Baez is also a prominent part of the movie. He is torn between Baez and Sylvie Russo, played by Elle Fanning, a fictionalized version of one of his real-life romantic partners.

Chalamet’s Dylan is enigmatic and succinct, withdrawn when it comes to his interpersonal relationships. In his relationships with Sylvie and Joan, he comes across as the stereotypical tortured male poet, unable to commit to anyone except himself and his art, not letting either of them in in any real way.

While I thought the movie was a bit too long and there were some slow parts that dragged, overall I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Chalamet’s performance was outstanding (no surprise there), and the rest of the cast was also phenomenal. I fell in love with Monica Barbaro as Baez, and Fanning as Sylvie had a winning, wide-eyed naivete.

I thought the number of musical performances was excessive … I suppose the whole point of a Dylan biopic is to appreciate his music, but I thought a few songs could have been cut with no detriment to the film overall. Despite my qualms, it was worth going to the theater to see Chalamet shine, and as always, I’m looking forward to his next role (and the next time Sarah and I can go to a movie together!).

— Hannah Gruen, advertising & events coordinator