A Complete Unknown Review & Analysis
Amount Of Times Watched (in theaters): 8
Written By: Ella Collins
It makes me so happy to be able to write about a Timothee Chalamet movie. I love him so much I have seen every single thing he has been in multiple times. He is one of my all time favorite actors and I am so so so so proud of him, especially after watching this movie. I went to the first showing on its early release day at my theater, December 24th, and left the theater crying happy tears feeling so unbelievably proud of him and appreciating his work even more than I did before (which I did not think was possible. This movie is so well done and Timmy did such a beautiful job with it. He will always be so special to me and seeing how far he has come from 2019 when I first discovered him is so amazing to watch. It excites me the thought of being there to see him win his first ever, well deserved, Oscar. I could go on and on about Timmy but this is about the movie so let me just start off by saying how great this movie is. I watched it three times so far and hopefully will be able to watch it many more times. The first time I realized he could sing as good as he does was when he was in Wonka. I thought he sang amazing in that movie but to watch him sing all these songs on his own as well as play the instruments on his own was absolutely unreal.
A Complete Unknown is about a young Bob Dylan on a journey to "catch a spark" and make it big doing what he loves. After he encounters a taste of fame he begins to realize it is not all he expected it to be and does not have as much freedom as he hoped for. Regardless of those who believe they know more than him and know what's best he continues to fight for his songs and his love for what he sings.
I also want to make note of how many amazing and memorable quotes there are in this movie one in particular (my personal favorite one) being "track some mud on the carpet" said by Johnny Cash (played by Boyd Holbrook). I found this one particularly memorable and keep it in the forefront of my mind a lot as I am on my own path through this journey of life. I find comfort in remembering this quote and remembering that in order to pave that path for myself sometimes it takes disappointing some people and "tracking mud on the carpet" to allow yourself the freedom of being you and discovering (or rediscovering) yourself.
One of my favorite parts about this movie is the scenery I loved it all and, as weird it is to say, the lighting. Timmy did a beautiful job and I hope he gets all the recognition he very much deserves for this masterpiece because his dedication to this role absolutely shows. The very ending of this movie is also quite significant because as he says goodbye to his hero Woodie Guthrie as the song sings in the background "so long, good to know ya", I believe it is a representation of how he is saying goodbye to all his previous beliefs and thoughts of the music and how it should be played. It might also be a representation of him saying goodbye to his past self and the past spark he was trying to catch and rather creating his own spark. I just finished writing a review for Gladiator 2 and am realizing that, while they are in extremely different situations, the underlying message is sort of the same in the sense that you should always stay true to who you are and what you believe in and to not let anyone ever tell you who or what you are, no matter how powerful or how much more they think they know. Defying norms could pave the pathway for others, even with no support behind you, you can create your own support. Sing your songs loud, make your voice heard, and dirty some carpets along the way.
In order to be revolutionary you can't be ordinary you must be extraordinary, whatever that may look like to you.
