A Complete Unknown: Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro unlucky to miss out on Oscars
James Cox
Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown was nominated for eight Oscars but failed to win a single one, Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro can count themselves unlucky.
Both put in stellar performances, with Chalamet playing a young Dylan while Barbaro played legendary folk musician Joan Baez.
Music biopics often disappoint, but A Complete Unknown is one that exceeds expectations.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that it was directed by James Marigold, who was also behind the 2015 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.
Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Johnny Cash alongside Reese Witherspoon's Oscar-winning June Carter Cash are matched by Chalamet and Barbaro.
They portary the complex, loving and sometimes adversarial nature of the Dylan/Baez relationship that was the inspiration for some of the pair's greatest work.
Baez herself was full of praise for Barbaro's portrayal of her.
“I loved what she did in the film,” Baez told her hometown paper, the Marin Independent Journal. “If I didn’t think she was good at it, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it in general. But she looked enough like me and she had my gestures down. You could tell who it was. She worked so hard. Kudos to her for taking the role on.”
Dylan is far less public with his views and endorsements. However, he was involved in the script-writing process of A Complete Unkown, and reportedly gave Chalamet his seal of approval.
Chalamet was successful in bringing a more-than-convincing Dylan to life, something which many actors have failed to do over the years.
He captured Dylan's distinctive voice, and elusive nature, as the story looks at his beginnings in New York before he reached superstardom.
Chalamet also brings Dylan's struggles with celebrity to the story, while his controversial move to electric music is a key part of the film.
The cast is also well supported by the likes of Elle Fanning, who played Dylan's girlfriend Suze Rotolo, and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash.
Edward Norton plays Dylan's friend and mentor Pete Seeger, and besides Chalamet and Barbaro, his performance is another key element to the film.
He was deservedly nominated for best supporting actor at the Academy Awards.
However, it is Chalamet and Barbaro who can really consider themselves hard done by. They may well go on to enjoy Oscars success with more performances like this.
