A Complete Unknown (in theaters)

Do you see Bob Dylan as a man, or a legend?

The answer to that question may determine how you feel about “A Complete Unknown,” James Mangold’s latest biopic about the famous musician. Though the movie does a respectable job with the facts of a few key years of Dylan’s life, it gives little insight into the man who made the music. Timothy Chalamet’s performance is excellent, capturing all of Dylan’s shifts of mood and doing a solid job with his voice, but there’s no insight in it. We see a solid look at the Dylan legend, but the man himself is completely lost.

The movie follows Dylan between 1961 and 1965, starting with his befriending Pete Seeger and ending with his infamous performance at the Newport Folk Festival. (For those not familiar with the Dylan mythos, he performed with an electric guitar at a staunchly folk festival.) It includes two romantic relationships, including one with Joan Baez, and includes his and Seeger’s falling out after Newport.

Chalamet brings to bear every ounce of charisma he possesses, including the darker shades. The movie doesn’t hide from the fact that Dylan could be a jerk, but at no point does it question why everyone let him get away with it. The rift with Seeger is simplified, to Seeger’s detriment, and even Johnny Cash’s presence in the story serves simply as a cheerleader for Dylan.

If you worship Dylan, you’ll still be satisfied. If you were looking for something more, though, it’s hard not to be disappointed.

Grade: Three stars

“Den of Thieves: Pantera” (in theaters)

The reason to watch the “Den of Thieves” sequel is the same reason you watched the original – you really like watching Gerard Butler at his grimy, seedy best.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure director Christian Gudegast really seems to understand that. His “Den of Thieves: Pantera” is slicker than the original, a nod to glossier heist movies that “Pantera” can’t match. Butler is still an entertaining dumpster fire, crashing through refined settings with more odd charisma than is at all fair, but the rest of the movie strains to be anywhere near as interesting. Given the more than two hours of run time, it’s hard not to feel the gap by the time the credits roll.

After the events of the first movie, Butler’s Big Nick has burned through all his professional and personal ties in L.A. Following a lead to Europe, he teams up with Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) for an ambitious diamond heist. While Big Nick crashes his way through France in his usual style, the two make plans and draw the attention of a dangerous local mobster.

The movie is incredibly fixated on the planning process behind the heist, which has its moments but isn’t nearly as interesting as the action scenes. There’s also plenty of bonding moments between Butler and Jackson, which suffer because Jackson can’t match Butler’s energy. He takes over the movie, both for audiences and during the crime itself, and Gudegast hampers the movie by not accommodating that. When audiences have more fun watching Butler mispronounce croissant than standoffs with the mob, something is wrong with this picture.

Grade: Two stars

Jenniffer Wardell is an award-winning movie critic and member of the Utah Film Critics Association. Find her on Twitter at @wardellwriter or drop her a line at [email protected].

Credit for photo ©Searchlight Pictures