Note: If you have no familiarity with Bob Dylan, this review may contain spoilers but if you have a basic understanding of Bob's career there is nothing in this review that you don't already know.
Michael's Movie Grade: A-
One of the best musical biopics in years.
Director and co-writer James Mangold (who also directed the Johnny Cash Biopic, Walk the Line (2005)) based this film off the book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald (essential reading for anyone interested in 1960's music). Like that book this movie doesn't focus on telling the story of Dylan's life but rather looking at Bob and his music through the lens of the culture and music of the 1960's. Through this film we get an immersive view of the 1960's folk scene and the culture that helped shape it. Because of this we understand just why Bob Dylan going electric was considered such an insult to this community. This makes the climactic scene of him performing rock and roll at a folk festival much more effective than it would have been in a film that focuses solely on Bob's life. At the same time this film helps us not only understand why the crowd was angry at him but also why Bob felt the need to go in this direction feeling tied down by the restrictions of what many consider traditional folk music. The movie also helps paint how rock and roll was always just as much a part of who Bob Dylan was, just as much as folk music was. This movie shows Bob as a person who is driven by his music to the extent of all else in his life. While we do see the true musical genius he was and is here, the movie is also not afraid to sometimes bluntly show moments that paint Bob in a less than sympathetic light. This is especially true of the scenes with Joan Baez, many of which can make him seem completely unlikable. Yet the movie is also a film that truly loves and respects its subject even while showing his biggest flaws. Because of this the scenes that show him being rather selfish, don't make him unlikable but rather make him just feel more human and real to us. At the same time Mangold refuses to delve much into Bob's actual past. In one scene he tells his girlfriend that people make up their past. Most of the times we hear anything about Bob before heading to New York, he is blatantly and obviously lying. This also helps paint a picture of who this movie shows Bob as being. Here we see a man who constantly reinventing himself to be who he wants to be at any such moment. To such a person, the past is often something to be tossed aside.
The performances in this movie are truly fantastic. There are many moments when you forget that you are watching Timothée Chalamet instead of the real Bob Dylan (even for someone who is a massive Dylan fan like me). This is more than just a simple impression but instead the actor truly becoming the character. Chalamet is an incredibly talented and versatile actor, yet this may be one of his best movie roles. While he is the one who will be getting much of the praise for this film the hole cast is wonderful. Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Elle Fanning as Sylvie Russo (a character based off of Bob's real-life girlfriend at the time, Suze Rotolo) are all simply fantastic here. All throughout the movie we forget that we are watching actors and feel like we are watching real footage of these people.
While as a Dylan fan, I may be more than a little biased, I love the music here. This film features many songs played almost in their entirety. I love listening to any of these songs at any time and I loved hearing them here, especially as the actors and actresses are all great musical performers as well. The use of long excerpts of these songs also helps this film capture how Dylan often let the music speak for itself.
With all the standard and forgettable musical biopics in recent years, this movie stands out as something truly great.
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