‘A Complete Unknown’: A Guaranteed Timothée Chalamet Oscar

Chalamet’s bravura turn as Bob Dylan transcends mimicry and captures the essence of the rock star’s prickly but brilliant talent. It’s a channeling performance.

Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet, R) and Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), in "A Complete Unknown." Searchlight Pictures

R | 2h 21m | Biopic, Music | Dec. 25, 2024

In the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,“ director James Mangold and star Timothée Chalamet do a sly, clever thing. When I first saw the trailer, I didn’t like Chalamet’s look. “That doesn’t look like Bob at all!” I grew up on the music of Dylan and Joan Baez and therefore consider myself some kind of Dylan-Baez expert. Which is not actually true, but you know what I mean.