Timothée Chalamet Does Dylan

James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown rests on three fairly safe assumptions about our culture. First, that many people enjoy conventional biopics. Second, that many people enjoy the actor Timothée Chalamet. And third, that many people buy into the idea of Bob Dylan as a man of such inscrutable genius that he is beyond mortal ken. Therefore, it figures that A Complete Unknown, a highly typical biopic starring Chalamet as young Dylan, would be doing pretty well in theaters. Which it is.