Can James Mangold make a music biopic better than ‘Walk the Line’?
James Mangold has had a rather successful run over the past 30 years, releasing numerous box-office hits that range from Girl, Interrupted to The Wolverine and Ford v Ferrari. In 2005, he took his first step into the controversial music biopic genre with Walk the Line, which charted the life of country icon Johnny Cash.
Played by Joaquin Phoenix, the movie covered everything from Cash’s formative childhood experiences, joining the Air Force, starting a family, meeting June Carter, performing at Folsom Prison, and becoming addicted to drugs. The performances are the genuine highlight of the movie, with Phoenix proving himself to be one of the best actors of his generation with his emotive turn as the troubled singer. He earned an Oscar nomination for his role, although it was Reese Witherspoon’s performance as June which landed victory at the Academy Awards.
Walk the Line is often regarded as one of the greatest biopics ever made, so with the upcoming release of James Mangold’s Bob Dylan movie A Complete Unknown, many are wondering if he can surpass his previous success. The question on everyone’s mind is whether Mangold will manage to capture the true essence of Dylan, an elusive and iconic figure who has always defied easy characterisation.
Dylan is played by Timothée Chalamet, a decision many people have questioned due to his sheer recognisability. Would a lesser-known actor have fit the part better? Now that the official trailer has been released, it appears that the actor has Dylan’s look and voice nailed, but he’s still unmistakably Timothee Chalamet.
For many viewers, it seems that it’ll be hard to separate this version of Dylan from the celebrity of Chalamet, who is providing all of the vocals in the movie, too. Judging by the trailer, there seems to be an uncanniness to his performance, partly down to the fact that he is a hugely famous star playing another incredibly well-known celebrity. Yet, Chalamet has the seal of approval from Dylan, so it seems as though Mangold is in safe hands as far as his cast goes.
While Walk The Line is a great biopic, its weakest moments are a result of the film’s epic scale. It sometimes feels as though it is trying to cram in too much, and as a result, as the film enters its third act, it starts to sag. We see Cash as a child, a newlywed, a cheating husband, a drug addict, and a recovering addict, which is a lot to fit into just over two hours. However, A Complete Unknown will focus on a shorter period in time – Dylan’s rise to fame, the relationships that shaped his life during this time, and the controversy that came with him going electric.
Whether Mangold explores these prominent moments of Dylan’s life with enough depth—something Walk the Line sometimes lacked—will be revealed once the movie is released. However, it seems as though Mangold has mastered the visual aspect of the film, which appears to authentically match 1960s New York.
There is no doubt that Chalamet will land himself an Oscar nomination for this role, but whether the film will have as much emotional pull as Walk the Line is yet to be proven. This leads to wider questions about musical biopics, though. Do we need them when the musician is still alive, and there’s enough good archival footage to make a documentary instead? We’ve already got documentaries about Dylan, so what will a biopic really achieve?
It seems as though the decision to have the highly coveted Chalamet lead a movie about another famous figure with a cult following will allow Mangold’s movie to attract flocks of curious fans of both Chalamet and Dylan. It has a different draw than Walk The Line, but there is real promise that Mangold will focus on a shorter period of time, hopefully allowing for more complex storytelling.
Still, when there is this much hype around a film, it isn’t unusual to have reservations about it. Is this just another soulless musical biopic designed as a cash grab? While these kinds of films are becoming more and more common, the fact that Mangold has made a Complete Unknown, responsible for one of the better biopics ever made, leaves a glimmer of hope. Whether this is actually the case, we’ll find out on December 25th.
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