“You’re kind of an (expletive), Bob,” fellow folk singer and intermittent love interest Joan Baez tells Bob Dylan. “Yeah,” he says, “I guess.” That exchange is one of the myriad wonderful little moments that comprise “A Complete Unknown,” the spellbinding film in which the lovely singing Monica Barbaro portrays Joan and an almost unbelievably sensational Timothée Chalamet stars as the then-cultural-icon-in-the-making Bob. Directed by James Mangold and in theaters on Christmas Day, “A Complete Unknown” attempts not to chronicle the life and career of Dylan but instead tries to capture a few years — essentially the first half of the tumultuous 1960s — that saw him produce an astonishingly big number of earth-shaking songs. And in adapting Elijah Wald’s 2015 book “Dylan Goes Electric!: Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties,” Mangold and co-writer Jay Cocks — who’s worked on Martin Scorsese’s films “The Age of Innocence,” “Gangs of New York” and “Silence” — have succeeded wildly. The times were a-changing, sure, but Dylan helped change them. Beginning with a 19-year-old Bob hitching a ride to New York City and concluding with him cruising away on his motorcycle after his defiant, now-legendary performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, “A Complete Unknown” paints a portrait of a young artist less interested in where he’s been and more where he is now and where he’s going. He is an ever-burning, constantly composing creative force, one who could be a bit aloof or a tad inconsiderate. In the film’s beginning, Bob has traveled to the Big Apple in 1961 to visit one of his heroes, folk singer Woody Guthrie, in the hospital. Once redirected to New Jersey, Bob meets the ill Woody (Scoot McNairy) and another folk singer of the day, Pete Seeger (Edward Norton), and plays them something he has written, “Song to Woody.” They are stunned by the song, and Pete gives Bob a place to crash in his family’s home. Soon, Bob is making a name for himself on the folk scene, meeting Joan at a key venue of the day along the way. He tells the crowd she’s “pretty” and clearly likes her voice — they will go on to perform together on and off in the coming years — but he also soon tells her she tries too hard to write beautiful music, that her “songs are like an oil painting at the dentist’s office.” Ouch. His other love interest in the film is Elle Fanning’s Sylvie Russo, a stand-in for Suze Rotolo, the woman seen with Dylan on the cover of his acclaimed 1963 album, “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.” Sylvie adores Bob but wants to know him — to understand him — on a level that makes him uncomfortable. Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet share a scene in “A Complete Unknown.” (Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures) As he becomes more and more successful, he also grapples with the adoration that fame brings with it. This is a young man who doesn’t want to be owned by anyone and to do as he pleases — personally and artistically — at any given moment. His artistic evolution is a major source of conflict in “A Complete Unknown,” as Pete and others — including Alan Lomax (Norbert Leo Butz), the head of the Newport Folk Festival — are invested in Bob remaining rooted firmly in the folk world. Bob, though, isn’t so interested in genre labels and becomes intrigued by the idea of playing with other musicians, those from the rock and blues scenes. “Well,” says a producer in the studio as Bob and company lay down a take of “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” the attention-grabbing lead track off 1965’s “Bringing It All Back Home,” “this is going to piss some people off.” Bob Dylan, portrayed by Timothée Chalamet, records with other musicians in a scene from “A Complete Unknown.” (Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures) “A Complete Unknown” is a nice rebound for Mangold, following his not-so-warmly received “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” from last year. So fluid is Mangold’s work here that “Unknown” feels much shorter than its running time of well more than two hours. This film will fly by for a Dylan fan. Related Articles ‘Nosferatu’ review: Robert Eggers’ love of source material clear as death ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ review: Jenkins delivers stronger film than 2019 remake ‘Nightbitch’ review: Mother embraces her animal side in thought-provoking film ‘Moana 2’ review: Sequel hits big screen unable to shake its small-screen DNA ‘Sweethearts’ review: Breakup-focused romcom is largely engaging The talented filmmaker’s credits include 1999’s “Girl, Interrupted,” 2007’s “3:10 to Yuma” and 2017’s “Logan,” but the most relevant film on his resume is, of course, the well-regarded Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line,” from 2005. And just as he did with the Academy Award-nominated Joaquin Phoenix, who portrayed Johnny, Mangold helps bring to the screen a transcendent performance by Chalamet. (By the way, Boyd Holbrook makes an impression here as Johnny Cash, who becomes pen pals with Bob.) Chalamet, like Phoenix, performs in the film the music you know so well from the man he is portraying and does it so convincingly, the star of movies including “Call Me by Your Name,” “Wonka” and the “Dune” films having spent five years on musical study and training in preparation for the part. (The pandemic and subsequent Hollywood strikes gave him more time than he otherwise would have had, according to the film’s production notes.) Timothée Chalamet portrays young folk singer Bob Dylan in a scene from “A Complete Unknown.” (Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures) His work here goes beyond the convincing musicianship, however. If you’ve spent years listening to Dylan, watching him perform or occasionally speak on camera, you’ll appreciate the mannerisms and affectations Chalamet brings to the screen. We are not trying to suggest this is straight impersonation — Mangold says he didn’t want the actor to “disappear” into the role — but we had to remind ourselves at times we weren’t actually watching a young Bob Dylan. We could go on and on — about how Dylan’s music comes alive in a new way in the film and that you’ll likely spend the next few days spinning classic Dylan tunes featured in it, thanks also to folks such as executive music producer Nick Baxter (“Maestro,” “The Color Purple”) and music supervisor Steven Gizicki (“La La Land,” “In the Heights”) — but you get the idea. “A Complete Unknown” is a complete triumph. ‘A Complete Unknown’ Where: Theaters. When: Dec. 25. Rated: R for some language. Runtime: 2 hours, 20 minutes. Stars (of four): 4.