Being a fervent "Dylanologist" (and having written my Master's thesis on his work and its place in literature), there was no way I was not going to see the cinematic representation of his early years in the movie "Like A Complete Unknown". I (perhaps rather against her own volition) convinced/dragged my much better half to come along and I want to share my impressions of the movie here, starting with the positive aspects:
1. Even though the plot, of course, was predictable and chronicled the well-trodden path of Dylan's meteoric rise from a small town in Minnesota to becoming the folk hero of the folk movement, with which he eventually dramatically parted at the legendary Newport Folk Festival, the movie nonetheless managed to capture the atmosphere of that time and place: the Bohemian atmosphere of Greenwich Village; the Cuban missile crisis; the conflict between the "old guard" convincingly embodied by Pete Seeger (well done to the actor!) and Dylan's changing artistic course; etc.
2. Dylan's music features heavily in the movie, which hence is rather on the long side. But the movie does not use Dylan's recordings, but makes the actors sing the songs and I have to say that they did a very admirable job imitating the intricacies of Dylan (and Baez, for that matter) without being a parody of it. If one enjoys Dylan's music, the intensive use of it is a plus. (Full disclosure: My better half was rather turned off by the long musical interludes.)
3. Now knowing anything about Dylan and that time, the movie manages to give the novice a (though historically not always entirely accurate - more on that later) solid understanding of who Dylan was at that time, where he came from and what the "big fuss" was all about.
I did, however, also have a few quibbles about this movie:
1. The movie is very loose when it comes to historically accuracy and uses these inaccuracies to further the plot of the movie. If you know "your Dylan", you are somewhat turned off by that. Suze Rotolo, for instance, gets a very rough deal and is, I feel, rather misrepresented and not given the credit she had on the young Dylan at that time.
2. The movie, especially the second half, focusses heavily (and not unjustifiably) on the immense pressure that surely was on Dylan's shoulders after leaving "folk / acoustic music" behind and the demands that were put on him by different sides & people. Because of this focus, Dylan often comes across as rather off-putting (which he surely was, as many biographies confirm) and arrogant. I have no problems with the movie portraying that part, but what the movie I think failed to portray was the playful and Chaplinesque humour as well as the at times light-hearted but very charismatic character of Dylan's early years in New York, which are not only confirmed by biographies, but also audible on some parts of Dylan's Bootleg Series.
In total, I'd say it is an entertaining enough, even if entirely predictable, movie that manages to give a younger generation a glimpse into the time, its troubles and the man and his songs of that time. Being a Dylan buff, you might end up being slightly disappointed given the hype that was created around the movie.
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