The title of the new Bob Dylanbiopic,A Complete Unknown,is not just a reference to a famous line fromDylans Like a Rolling Stone. It is the entire thesis of James Mangoldsfilm in three words.In A Complete Unknown, Mangolds Dylan arrives in New York City in early 1961 with the clothes on his back, an acoustic guitar, and a name that hechose for himself. He shuffles anonymously through Greenwich Villages clubs and coffee shops. No one gives this scruffy kid a second look. Not until they hear him play.Pretty soon, Dylan becomes aVillage favorite. Within a few years, hes an international star, and so big and influential than when he dares to buck the trend toward socially relevant folk music that he helped bring into the mainstream, hes labeled a Judas by his own fans. Butthe motivations behind that decision and many othershe makes throughoutA Complete Unknownare left opaque. As a musician, Dylanis clearly a genius. As a man, he remains a complete unknown.A biography thatreinforces itssubjects mysteries rather than illuminates them is a valid choice for a Dylan film, and one Dylan himself would probably appreciate if he ever gets around to watching A Complete Unknown. But I am not sure it is an entirelyrewarding one to the paying customer who goes to see this.Yes,this movieis well-made. But what, ultimately, does it add to our understanding of Dylan, or to great artists in general? What do we take away from this story, except thatDylan followed his muse, wrote incredible music, and left the rest to others to sort out for themselves? These are questions I am still wrestling with even as Im writing this review.SearchlightSearchlightloading...READ MORE: This Is Our Least Favorite Biopic ClicheI know this much:Timothe Chalamet is genuinely impressive playing (and singing!) the young Bob Dylan. A Complete Unknownis not a biopic like Bradley CoopersMaestro, which barely concerned itself with the musical legacy ofLeonard Bernstein, and focused instead on his complicated marriage and private life.A Complete Unknownoverflowswith Dylan music, from Song For Woody, strummed by Chalamets Dylan in a hospital roomfor Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy), to Like a Rolling Stone, blasted by Dylan and his backing band at the stunned throngs gathered at1965s Newport Film Festival.All ofthe music is performedby Chalamet, doing a very credible Dylan croon and doing an even more impressive job of inhabiting Dylan away from the microphone. His tics, his stammers, his evasive glances, his endless obfuscations. Beyond his wild mop of brown hair, Chalamet doesnt really look much like Dylan. AndDylan isvastly different from ascendant emperor Paul Atreides inDune, or from the aspiring chocolatier inWonka.For a guy who looksbasically the same in every single role he takes on, Chalamet sure hasdeveloped an impressivechameleonic quality.A Complete UnknownSearchlightloading...Mangold surrounds Chalamet with a terrific ensemble. Edward Norton plays an awed, frustrated Pete Seeger who recognizes the potential in Dylan, and perhaps envies it as well, and tries to guidethe young folkies career in the ways he would have wanted if he were just coming into his own as an artist in the early 60s. Elle Fanning plays Sylvie, a fictionalized version of Dylans girlfriend in this period, perhaps the last person outside the world of show business who would ever be close to him. And Monica Barbaro plays Joan Baez, who forged a fiery connection with Dylan both on and off-screen.A Complete Unknowns screenplay, written by Mangold with frequent Martin Scorsese collaborator Jay Cocks and based on a book by journalist Elijah Wald calledDylan Goes Electric!, charts Dylans rise to fame and then his growing interest in rock and roll and pop, much to the consternation of old-schoolfolk singers like Seeger and his colleagues at the Newport Folk Festival. Whether you will get invested in the battle over Dylans musical soul may depend on how much you know or care about the man himself, and how much you know about how these events played out in real life.Beyond them, there isnt an enormous amount of dramatic tension or suspense in the film.A Complete Unknown is not a traditional take on The Bob Dylan Story. Its more a loving evocation of 1960s New York City, with its smoky bars and chilly dives, and of the wider social and political upheaval that birthed this remarkable talent who then decided he wasmore interested in things beyond protest songs and campaigning for civil rights. For Dylan, the times were always achanging.SearchlightSearchlightloading...So does that justify a movie that adds so little to our understanding of Dylan? A Complete Unknown is beautiful, its got a wonderful texture of authenticity, and its got one remarkable song after another. (The soundtrack will be incredible ... provided you want to hearTimothe Chalamet sing Girl From the North Country.) And when the movie was over, I walked out of the theater and thought to myself ... Okay, but, so what?I believe Mangolddirectedthe Dylan movie he wanted to, and in some ways A Complete Unknownis interesting precisely because it is a willfully withholding portrait of an enigmatic star. Then again, it's hard to make a completely satisfying movie abouta subject that its director seems to believe cannot be understood.Additional Thoughts:-The other key player in this biopic is Johnny Cash, a colleague and admirer of Dylans and theprotagonist of a previous James Mangold movie biopic,Walk the Line, which starred Joaquin Phoenix as Cash. This time, Boyd Holbrook assumes the role, and mostly plays thecountry singer as a lovable rogue rather than a tortured gunslinger. Its fun to see Mangold present another side of Cash, evenifonly for a couple of scenes.RATING: 7/10The Coolest Opening Title Sequences of All TimeWhere have all the opening credits gone?(Note: Click the link in each entry to watch these opening titles on YouTube.)