Hear Me Out: Bob Dylan biopic ‘A Complete Unknown’ is Oscar bait at its most transparent
At least once a year, a movie emerges that feels precision-engineered Oscar bait, a transparent and cynical exercise in awards season pandering that’s made with the specific intention of hoovering up trophies and basking in the warm glow of adulation. This year, A Complete Unknown is that film.
Of course, things don’t always go according to plan, as last year’s overt Oscar-baiter Maestro can attest after winning precisely zero of the statues it was nominated for. However, director James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic has a lot more going for it than Bradley Cooper’s passion project, and it’s going to be a devastating blow for everyone involved if it doesn’t scoop at least one of the major gongs.
Mangold himself is no stranger to the genre, and he’s got previous. The Johnny Cash story Walk the Line missed out on ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ nominations, but Reese Witherspoon did nab ‘Best Actress’, and Joaquin Phoenix made the ‘Best Actor’ shortlist. Ford v Ferrari also secured a ‘Best Picture’ nod, but that was the sum of its recognition in the most prestigious categories.
However, this is Dylan, which makes it an entirely different beast. This is a musical legend, a cultural icon, and a seismic presence in the past, present, and future of the very soundscape. It’s nowhere near as experimental as Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There, but from the ground up, it feels as though every fibre of A Complete Unknown‘s being has been pieced together with one specific purpose in mind.
Timothée Chalamet is a massive Dylan fan, an Oscar-nominated actor, and a freshly minted box office draw while zeroing in on a specific period in the subject’s life – in this case, the controversial switch to electronically amplified instrumentation in the mid-1960s – will offer a snapshot of a moment as opposed to the whole gamut of A-to-B-to-C following him from childhood to the present day.
Several recent biopics have shown that narrowing the focus increases the appeal, with the biggest beneficiary being Bohemian Rhapsody. It wasn’t a warts-and-all tale, but it was nonetheless a movie that focused on one of the biggest musical acts of their era during a pivotal moment in their existence, combining recollection and nostalgia with the glitz and glamour of a showstopping Hollywood sheen.
Was it a good film? That’s beside the point. The answer is no for what it matters, but it’s the highest-grossing musically-inclined feature that’s ever been made that won its leading man an Oscar for ‘Best Actor’, so there’s that. Chalamet is already the early favourite to follow suit, and if he doesn’t even make the shortlist of five candidates, then something has gone disastrously awry.
It’s a relatively simple formula that’s as close to bulletproof as it gets, but from a cynical perspective, it’s easy to see why A Complete Unknown is being heralded as a potential front-runner. It’s got an established director, tells the story of a world-renowned person, it’s got a fast-rising star on possibly transformative form in the lead, and it’s coming replete with a litany of legendary tracks.
It’s been a while since a biopic won ‘Best Picture’, never mind a musical one. On the other hand, it’s hard to remember the last time an actor played an icon of the recording industry and didn’t get nominated, at the very least.
In the 21st century alone, there’s Rami Malek’s Freddie Mercury, Phoenix’s aforementioned Johnny Cash, Austin Butler’s Elvis Presley, and Jamie Foxx’s Ray Charles, so Chalamet is basically a lock. Technical nods for editing and sound are also about as nailed-on as it gets, while don’t discount A Complete Unknown from landing a nomination or two for its supporting cast members.
That’s the issue in microcosm; it’s all very predictable. From the second a recognisable actor was announced to be playing an indelible musician, the consensus declared—and not without reason—that it was a shoo-in for the Oscars. Nobody’s seen more from it than a trailer, but the point still stands, and no doubt will until the ceremony takes place.
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