A complete strangerwhich was part of the movie schedule 2024has received rave reviews for his portrayal of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Critics praised Timothée Chalamet’s portrayal of Dylan and how he navigated the 1960s New York folk scene while making a good impression. James Mangold, the film’s director, did his homework for the film and wonderfully blends fact (with the help of excellent resources) and fiction. One of the best attractions the director had speaks of his interpretation of the friendship of Bob Dylan and Johnny Money, which comes from the duo’s pen pal relationship.
James Mangold is no stranger to films about historical musicians. In fact, he directed the Money biopic. Walk the line back in 2005, and is still one of the best musical biopics out there. The 61-year-old man walked Entertainment Weekly through what was historically accurate and what was embellished in the name of storytelling for film. It covered some major plot points, including Dylan’s love for Guthrie, his relationship with Suze Russo, aka Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), and the friendship of the two monumental artists. He Indiana Jones and the dial of destiny The director had this to say about the location of the infamous letters:
I didn’t know anyone had them. I started working on writing this movie and called Jeff Rosen, Bob’s supervisor. I asked him, ‘Do you have the letters that Johnny Money wrote to Bob?’ And he says, ‘Oh, yeah.’ Then he sent them to me. Those words are exactly those letters. That correspondence comes from Bob’s files. The very specific line where Johnny says, ‘Bob, leave some mud on the carpet,’ that’s literally what Johnny said to Bob in the letters.
Let’s take a moment for the good managers and creatives who do research. It may seem like a harmless detail, but moments drawn from primary sources make great biopics even more galvanizing. Mangold approaches Dylan’s supervisor and injects realities into the film, painting a more complete picture of the era and the prolific singer. It’s an opportunity for new generations to connect with the era and for others who are familiar to learn some things they may not have known. Mangold gave me this experience twenty years ago with Johnny Money and I’m glad he’s doing it again (check out the CinemaBlend documentary). A complete stranger review here).
Their friendship in the film is healthy and wonderful to watch grow and encourage each other in ways that are true to themselves. I’ve always loved knowing that the two wrote to each other regularly and supported each other in their careers, and I’m even happier to have this part of their relationship cemented in a film.
Thanks to Mangold and everyone involved in sourcing the sweet BTS items that contributed to Money and Dylan’s relationship and beyond. I know this movie will be in pretty heavy rotation because of their friendship. And I hope to find some comparable titles this year in the upcoming musical biopics list that has the attention to detail that A complete stranger has.
A complete stranger It’s playing in theaters now. Check out Mangold walk the line with a Hulu Subscription.
