A Complete Unknown 2024
Mangold's Bob Dylan movie, covering 1961 to the 1965 Newport electric set, from a Jay Cox script Mangold rewrote, with Timothée Chalamet as Dylan, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger, Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Elle Fanning as the Suze Rotolo stand-in Sylvie, and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash. Sean came in with 'active dread' and left stumped, admiring Chalamet (who learned guitar and sang live) and the period detail while missing any interior read on Dylan; he clocks the third act sagging and the Cuban Missile Crisis staging as too much. Mallory calls it her favorite movie in a long time (riveted, in tears at the performances) while arguing it's barely a movie, more a very long music video. Chris likes it more than he feared but faults the endless awed-onlooker reaction shots and the 'cartoonish' Alan Lomax material. All three chew on Mangold's claim that 'you can't play a question mark' and the Seeger-vs-Dylan argument about whether folk was a cause or a cage. Chris: seven Red Rooms. Mallory: four out of five cranks.
