Had the opportunity to review this American musical bio directed by James Mangold. Based from the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric, written by Elijah Wald, this film portrays the early years of Bob Dylan doing folk music until his dramatic change to use electrical instruments.. But before the chaos occurs, we see the simplicity and authentic way he writes, sings, and performs is just mind blowing. Giving us a sense of history of the way 60’s was with the wave of the hippy era.
The story starts off with Dylan coming to visit a sick and bedridden folk singer Woody Guthrie (played by Scoot McNairy). Seeger (played by Ed Norton) was there and saw the young man’s potential and the answer to keeping folk music relevant. While he is playing at different functions, he runs into Sylvie Russo (played by Elle Fanning), a university student whom he falls in love with and becomes a part of his inspiration of writing and development. The two were together for four years until, Sylvie realized she could not compete with Dylan in love with his music plus the side piece Joan Baez (played by Monica Barbaro) a popular female folk singer did not help their relationship.
Chalamet does a fantastic job of capturing Bob Dylan. His dialect, introvert personality and good feel around the guitar has you to believe you’re seeing Dylan on screen. Norton gives you the sense of someone trying to bring the purest form of folk music. Enjoyed the interaction between him and Timothee and their ideals of the way the his music career was heading and the people he’s reaching. Elle added spice to the film by giving her emotional cries and facial expressions. Monica and Timothee had great on screen chemistry when they sang the duet of “It Ain’t Me Babe“. Boyd Holbrook playing as Johnny Cash, had us laughing and enjoying his role of this iconic artist.
I will be looking forward to the soundtrack to this film. Songs like Blowin’ In The Wind, Mr. Tambourine Man, and The Times They Are Changin, just to name a few, is different from the norm of music we are listening to today. The music had meaning and a message to help and improve one’s prospective on life. Having the chance to relive the music of the 60’s is something we should take advantage of.
Overall, really enjoyed this film and recommend making this a Christmas outing or a holiday event to experience. We rate this film (3/4) 🍟
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Chief Editor