A Complete Unknown, and Deliver Me From Nowhere
Will it ever stop snowing? At least we're watching some musical movies in our dead winter days.
On a Sunday Snowday this past week, I called to my wife across the first floor. “Wanna watch that Springsteen movie?” She did, and after five minutes, I loaded it up. Instantly, I was taken by the scenery and how it brought us back in time. However, pretty quickly, I realized this was Timothee Chalamet, playing Bob Dylan, not Jeremy Allen White playing Springsteen. I’m turning 47 next month. These things happen. I can’t remember what’s on each streaming service, and I've mixed up the titles of two different music biopics in my head. 1
So, we watched the story of Bob Dylan, even if we’re not that big a fans of Bob Dylan. Obviously, the respect is there, but having seen him live recently in Akron with my friend Jon, I was simply happy to say I have seen Bob Dylan live. The performance was a bit of a mess, but I am not the first one to tell that story. It’s Dylan, though. And the film gave me even more context on the artist and his life than I could ever get any other way. I did some homework after watching the film to see how accurate it was, especially after being burned by continuity errors in the Freddie Mercury biopic, but it seems the Dylan film is mostly accurate. They take some liberties with the timing of his being called “Judas” by an audience member and a few other little things, but mostly, the reports are that the film is pretty faithful.
What did I end up feeling after watching the movie and its portrayal of Dylan? I’m not sure if they did it on purpose or simply left it open to interpretation, but Dylan didn’t come off like the hero. He comes off as problematic, maybe even the asshole of the film, even if his decision to “go electric” was more than defensible in hindsight. As wise people have told me before, it’s not good enough to be right. It didn’t feel like they went out of their way to present a redemption arc from Dylan figuratively spitting in the faces of friends, lovers, and business partners.
Which brings us to Deliver Me From Nowhere. I’m more of a Springsteen fan than a Dylan fan, but I’m not much of a Bruce fan either. Like Unknown, Deliver Me From Nowhere presents the artist at an inflection point. It tells the story of Bruce eschewing pop hits and bombastic stadium rock for an important artistic statement, “Nebraska.”
Like Dylan, Springsteen alienated important people in his life, from women and bandmates to the establishment at the record labels. Unlike the Dylan film, they may have used some fictional license to allow him to have a resurrection arc with his girlfriend, “Faye,” who is a fictional representation of all the women in Bruce’s life during this period.
I thought Deliver Me was a better film overall, but I’m happy I watched them both. I felt like both gave me a perspective on the artists that I just couldn’t get any other way, because it all happened either when I was very young or before I was born. I’ll revisit “Nebraska” this week just to see how those songs find me with some fresh perspective, but I don’t think these films will make me a big fan of either artist.
As films though, they were both worthwhile. I should have known better than to listen to the critics when the fan consensus on Springsteen was 20 points better on Rotten Tomatoes. The Dylan film was more than 10 points better, fans over critics. In the end, I really thought both films were effective and enjoyable watches. Great performances were all over the place in these films.
And so you don’t mess it up the way I did, the Springsteen film is on Disney+. The Dylan film is on Hulu, which is probably part of Disney+?
Whatever.
As I found out, you can confuse them if you’re moving too quickly on a snow day, and they’re both good.
BTW, do you pronounce biopic like BIOpic or biOPic? I don’t think there’s a wrong answer. Which also means there isn’t a right answer?