Relax, It’s Just the Trailer: A Complete Unknown

Sometimes two-and-a-half minutes of footage is all you need to give a penultimate thumbs up or thumbs down... Or maybe just don’t think twice, it’s alright. Let’s discuss.

It can be hard to remember the time before the pandemic. People ran wild through the streets, restaurants hadn’t yet begun their love affairs with QR codes, and Uber Pool was still commonplace in many major cities. It was announced during these before times, January 2020 to be specific, that none other than Timothée Chalamet would play none other than Bob Dylan in none other James Mangold’s new biopic about one of the few people to ever be as mysterious as they were world famous. This gave me pause at the time for three reasons:

1. We already have one great Dylan biopic in I’m Not There, which includes a note-perfect Dylan performance from Cate Blanchett – the same mid-60s Dylan that Chalamet with his curly locks and gaunt cheekbones would of course be playing. 

2. James Mangold has already made a very good, and often parodied, biopic in Walk the Line, which includes a performance from Joaquin Phoenix that saw him play all his own guitar and sing all his own songs. We also have already have one of the great music docs of all time in No Direction Home, which also covers this period of Dylan’s career, and one of the weirdest in Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story (this one is truly batshit), both of which were directed by none other than noted Dylan/American myth obsessive, Martin Scorsese.

3. Tim-o-tay Chal-a-may is playing Bob Dylan? The shit heal from Ladybird? The shit prince/Henry V from The King (sidenote - if you haven’t seen this very mid Netflix movie, watch this scene just to bask in the glory of whatever the fuck Bob Pattison is doing as the Dauphin himself)? LAURIE?! Unbelievable, he doesn’t have that kind of screen presence. How tall is he? How big is his hair? Has he ever even really been the lead in a movie? Will his Dylan eat multiple peaches while onscreen?

Well, a pandemic, multiple starts and stops, and Chalamet opening three blockbusters later (dos Dunes + Wonka, never forget), we finally have our first proper look at what all the fuss was truly about:

I really only have one thing to say:

Look, this movie could be warm trash and I’d still be heavily intrigued if nothing else. I’m not the Dylan nut I used to be, but having read four different books on the guy (did I recognize the significance of him riding that motorcycle through the winding roads of what’s clearly upstate New York? Yes, yes I did) and regularly debating with myself over which album of his is my favorite (it’s Blood on the Tracks summer at the moment), I will consume any and all Dylan film material sent my way.

Similarly, James Mangold’s movies are usually pretty good. This is the guy who made Logan and Ford v Ferrari and Girl, Interrupted. Did he also make the last Indiana Jones movie? Well, yes, but that movie wasn’t bad, it was just long and silly. 

And then we have Timmy. Let’s take a look at what he’s been up to since this movie was originally announced, aside from reportedly listening to hours of Dylan everyday and working with Austin Butler’s Elvis team to develop the voice, tone, and mannerisms needed for the role:

In case you don’t recognize one of those, yes, that is a Kid Cudi documentary, a man with whom Timothée is rather obsessed. Also, remember Don’t Look Up? Lolz, “Yule.”

While the teaser is light on plot, Mangold confirmed that the movie starts in early 1961 and ends within 72 hours after Dylan’s famed electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. We’ll watch Dylan come up under the tutelage of and eventually eclipse Pete Seeger (played here by Edward Norton oddly), rise to the top of the Village folk scene alongside Joan Baez (played by Monica Barbaro, who you might recognize as the one female pilot in Top Gun: Maverick), and fall in love with his first New York girlfriend and one of his biggest early influences, Sylvie Russo (based on Suze Rotolo, who was immortalized here and is played by Elle Fanning).

There will also reportedly be a good chunk of time dedicated to Dylan’s relationship with Johnny Cash, who will somehow be played by noted blonde man (and multi-time Mangold collaborator) Boyd Holbrook. Look out for a follow up to this once we get even a glimpse of Boyd as the man in black.

There is no legend in American music more romanticized and dissected than the man who would be Dylan and even though this trailer only begins to touch on what I’m sure will be a complicated story – it couldn’t be a Dylan story without losing the plot at least a few times – just seeing the distinct silhouette paired with that familiar, nasal drip made me more psyched for almost any other movie set to come out this year. Better add it to the list.