In 1961, the young Bob Dylan (Timothee Chalamet) arrives in New York City hoping to meet his idol Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy). It isn't long before the young Dylan rises to fame as the premier folk singer of his generation. Based on the non fiction book DYLAN GOES ELECTRIC by Elijah Ward and directed by James Mangold (GIRL INTERRUPTED). I'm not a big Dylan fan (his music yes, his singing no) and honestly I wasn't looking forward to watching the movie. So I was quite surprised that I liked it much more than I thought I would. That being said, it can't shake off the curse of the Hollywood biopic and its formulaic narrative. Also, Chalamet as good as he is (and he's very good) never quite convinced me as Dylan. Chalamet has a (and this is not a negative attribute) feminine quality about him that Dylan doesn't, he never gives off the edgy vibe that Dylan does. Once I realized he wasn't going to inhabit Dylan (the way Joaquin Phoenix inhabited Johnny Cash in WALK THE LINE or Renee Zellweger inhabited Garland in JUDY), I relaxed and enjoyed his performance. Dylan's life isn't that interesting enough to hold our attention for a two hour movie so the dramatic highpoint of the film is his going from acoustic to electric and the drama that ensued from that decision. With Elle Fanning (who gives the movie's best performance), Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez, Edward Norton as Pete Seeger and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash.
No comments:
Post a Comment