I've Watched A Lot Of Music Biopics, And I Think More Need To Take Note From A Complete Unknown

Since Bohemian Rhapsody became a worldwide phenomenon that grossed just $90 million shy of $1 billion at the global box office, music biopics have been all the rage in Hollywood. Since the success of the Queen movie, we’ve seen 2019’s Elton John musical Rocketman, 2022’s Elvis Presley and Whitney Houston movies, and last year’s Bob Marley and Amy Winehouse movies. And over this past Christmas holiday, a biopic about Bob Dylan called A Complete Unknown was released in theaters before becoming a Best Picture nominee at the 2025 Oscars.

I’ve seen just about all the music biopics to come out in recent years, genuinely because I’m a huge fan of music, and am always curious to learn about how these icons are depicted in their own movies. But, I really wasn’t expecting to give a movie about Bob Dylan just shy of five stars in my A Complete Unknown review. Now, I want to talk about the specific reasons why I think future music biopics should be looking at James Mangold’s movie when telling the story of more musicians.

I'm Tired Of Getting Boring History Lessons From Music Biopics

There are two huge upcoming music biopics on the way this year: the Michael Jackson movie Michael and The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White set to play Bruce Springsteen in Deliver Me From Nowhere. And yes, I’m going to see them, but now that A Complete Unknown floored me, I hope other movies of the genre pay attention to what worked about it. Number one on my list is how the movie chose a story within Bob Dylan’s life to tell that would be interesting even if his name wasn’t so famous, instead of the script feeling like I’m reading a Wikipedia article or research paper.

Look, if I wanted to watch a documentary about the subject, that’s what I would do. But, when I go to see a music biopic, I want to feel like I’m in the room with a musician I’m never going to be able to see live. I want to understand more about what makes them tick and the inspiration behind their famous songs and iconic moments in their career.

I liked that A Complete Unknown didn’t try to tell his massive career in two hours and make sure it hit all his big hits in one trip to the movies. The filmmakers didn’t overwhelm me with every era because they wanted to or could, they were clearly focused on telling a great story about Dylan’s start and how he decided to shake up the folk genre in 1965.

Disney Plus + Hulu Bundle: $10.99 $2.99 A Month For 4 Months Save 72% - You can check out the Bob Dylan movie, A Complete Unknown, on streaming with a Hulu subscription, or right now take advantage of this sweet Disney+/Hulu bundle. While new and eligible returning customers won't be able to enjoy the discounted rate for quite as long, you'll still get the sub-$3 bundle for the first four months of your subcription. Act quick, it expires March 30.

View Deal

I'm Happy That A Complete Unknown Focused On Dylan's Talent Over Controversy And Other Usual Biopic Beats

After seeing many music biopics, it feels like the journey of being a big-name in that industry typically hits the same beats – which feels absolutely reductive to how special each one of these artists are! Why is every one of these movies about how they are talented as a young person and get plucked by an agent, only to be used for their talent to the point of burnout, or them forming some kind of substance addiction before they face some kind of experience that leads them to one of their big hit song comebacks, which makes things ok again. That is before (half the time) they unexpectedly die.

I’m actually rather upset at Hollywood for treating these iconic names in music as subjects to sell movies rather than taking the time to work with their estates and find a compelling reason to highlight them first. In the case of A Complete Unknown, it was based on the book Dylan Goes Electric!, which I’m sure helped provide deeper insight and context into Dylan at this time in his life. I loved how I felt like I was watching an interesting music drama and character piece that just happened to star Bob Dylan rather than the kind of movie I can see coming a mile ahead.

For The First Time I Understood The Bob Dylan (And Joan Baez) Hype Thanks To A Complete Unknown

That's not to say A Complete Unknown doesn’t make some typical biopic mistakes, and others of the genre haven’t done some new things before. But I think what I liked the most about A Complete Unknown is how it genuinely made me feel like a fan of both Dylan and Joan Baez after experiencing the movie. Prior to watching it, I honestly didn’t get the hype on Dylan, but Timothée Chalamet has genuinely not done me wrong when it comes to his choices. I had heard about his commitment to learning to play the guitar and sing like Dylan, and remember really loving Walk The Line when I saw it (also helmed by Mangold), despite not really knowing much about Johnny Cash.

A Complete Unknown did an excellent job at having moments where it felt like I was just watching Bob Dylan be and perform in front of me. In no other context would I have taken the time to really listen to his music and understand what kind of artist he was when he entered the folk scene. I could imagine myself being a young person in the ‘60s and how Bob Dylan would have appealed to me. Oh, and I got to discover who Joan Baez was for the first time thanks to Monica Barbaro’s performance as the musician.

I found myself less interested in whether Dylan and Baez would be longtime lovers, and was absolutely on the edge of my seat over the next immersive performance as solo musicians or as a duo. Once the movie enters its finale where Dylan decides to play rock music at the Newport Folk Festival much to the dismay of audiences, I could understand why the artist is such an icon, with room now on my own time to learn about other aspects of his career and discography.

Here’s hoping more music biopics take more time and care into bringing their subjects to life, because I thought A Complete Unknown nailed it.