Timothée Chalamet’s already had fairly a yr, with Dune: Half Two hitting the 2024 film calendar in March, and subsequent up for him is the extremely anticipated Bob Dylan biopic A Full Unknown. The extremely sought-after actor will star because the singer/songwriter who got here to fame within the Sixties when the movie is launched to theaters on Christmas Day. The trailer seems to indicate that Chalamet has affected a spot-on impression of Dylan, and after critics have been capable of catch an early viewing, they have been fast to share their very own opinions of A Full Unknown.
It’s promising that regardless of the film not being out but, it’s already drawing acclaim. A Full Unknown was nominated for Finest Movement Image – Drama when the 2025 Golden Globe nominees have been introduced (the awards will air on CBS and reside with a Paramount+ subscription on January 5), with Timothée Chalamet and Edward Norton additionally singled out for his or her performances. Tomris Laffly of AV Membership provides the movie an A-, praising each Chalamet and director James Mangold for crafting a brainy however accessible story, energetically advised. The critic continues:
Whereas Chalamet is blessed with the appropriate hair, someway truly sings like Dylan—actually, he sings and talks like him, with that raspy slur and nasal nonchalance—and nails his one-of-a-kind intonation, that is no conventional biopic efficiency the place an actor disappears into the position. As an alternative, Chalamet goes to a spot a number of octaves deeper. His efficiency is each startlingly correct, and one thing playfully off-kilter and of his personal, as a younger artist himself shot to stardom so quickly that he nearly yearns to reactivate these freewheeling and melancholic Miss Stevens and Name Me By Your Identify muscle groups.
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com admits to having some skepticism in regards to the film, however simply as Bob Dylan has achieved so many occasions in his profession, A Full Unknown exceeded the critic’s expectations. Tallerico provides it 3.5 out of 4 stars and says:
Mangold’s strategy calls for an excessive amount of Mr. Chalamet, and he nails it. Not solely does he sound like Dylan when he’s singing, he someway captures the novelty of those moments. When he performs ‘The Occasions They Are A-Changin’’ for the primary time in an excellent scene, it’s a track that lots of people within the film viewers know by coronary heart. Nonetheless, Chalamet and the manufacturing someway convey the immediacy of that second at Newport when these persons are listening to a masterpiece for the primary time. It provides the movie an electrical energy that biopics nearly at all times lack, feeling pressing as an alternative of merely like a jukebox that’s been performed 100 occasions.
Brian Truitt of USA TODAY is equally as taken by Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan, additionally ranking it 3.5 out of 4 stars. Truitt says A Full Unknown separates itself from different biopics by being an entertaining and magnetic watch. Chalamet’s portrayal feels refreshingly genuine versus annoyingly imitative, the critic says:
A Full Unknown is that uncommon biopic that leaves you wanting to observe it once more and go on a Spotify deep dive, and also you’re apt to seek out new respect each for Dylan as a bluesy contrarian and Chalamet as a top-shelf thespian of his era.
Pete Hammond of Deadline says the lead actor “astonishes” as the enduring singer, and James Mangold provides much more for an general first-rate movie. The music alone is well worth the value of admission. Hammond writes:
On the heart of this all is a outstanding efficiency by Chalamet, who performs all of the songs himself in astonishing and genuine vogue. There is no such thing as a lip-syncing or mixing of voices between actor and topic. It’s all Chalamet in the identical means Stroll the Line was all Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, and Coal Miner’s Daughter was all Sissy Spacek. Finished the appropriate means as it’s right here, it provides immeasurably to this movie with out turning into an imitation. Chalamet goes an extended strategy to seize Dylan in each second, with vocals which can be jaw-dropping to behold; all of the work he put into each facet of capturing Dylan is obvious.
Siddhant Adlakha of IGN provides it a “Good” 7 out of 10, saying the director takes a deceptively simple strategy to Bob Dylan and the film works greatest when its topic is allowed to stay a thriller. Adlakha concludes:
Ford v Ferrari’s James Mangold takes his fingers off the steering wheel for A Full Unknown, leading to a Bob Dylan biopic that takes unpredictable turns. Relatively than connecting the dots between how the world influenced him (and the way he influenced it in flip), the movie frames his monumental musical sea modifications as private drama for his friends. It’s formally simple, however its give attention to the characters in Dylan’s life – fairly than the musician himself, performed by Timothée Chalamet – flip him into an enigma, for higher or worse.
There’s already a lot buzz surrounding this film, and these assessments give a good suggestion of why. If you wish to take a look at what all of the fuss is about, A Full Unknown will likely be in theaters beginning Wednesday, December 25.