It’s instructive that the titles of Bob Dylan’s biopics, I’m Not There and A Complete Unknown, hint at the difficulty filmmakers face getting a read on the man. Todd Haynes employed six actors to depict different aspects of Dylan’s character, but the singer-songwriter remained illusory. James Mangold takes a more conventional approach. Though a consistent theme throughout the film is Dylan’s willingness to reinvent himself, the version presented sheds some light on this mysterious minstrel.

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Within the opening few minutes, A Complete Unknown cleverly brings together folk-music’s past, present and future. Having recently arrived in New York, Bob Dylan pays pilgrimage to an ailing Woody Guthrie where he finds Pete Seeger on one of his regular visits. He takes the young troubadour under his wing, introducing him to folk-music scene where he meets singer Joan Baez, whose renditions of Dylan’s songs raises his profile. Arguably more consequential though is his relationship with activist Sylvie Russo, who apprises Dylan of the role folk music could play in addressing the day’s social issues.

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Writer/director James Mangold has been here before, having chronicled the life of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. He even casts Cash as a supporting character in this biopic and reprises ‘It Ain't Me Babe’ as a duet between Dylan and Baez. Formulaic it may be, but in the right hands it works. Expertly weaving over fifteen of Dylan’s compositions into a storyline that follows a natural arc, A Complete Unknown benefits greatly by having the actors perform their character’s songs. Though Timothée Chalamet’s mimicking of Dylan’s mumbling is at times as indecipherable as Dylan’s lyrics, his vocals in front of the microphone are pitch-perfect (which is not a phrase usually associated with Dylan himself).  Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro and Boyd Holbrook likewise impress in their respective roles.

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Also noteworthy is the peripheral detail as Dylan walks down the streets of Greenwich Village. From men fighting with payphones in telephone boxes to the constant background noise emanating from radios and televisions, A Complete Unknown lovingly captures the times it is set in, even though they were a-changing.