Timothée Chalamet has been praised by critics for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in a new biopic of the American singer-songwriter.

A complete unknown has already received three Golden Globe nominations and should be in the Oscar race in the new year.

The Guardian said Chalamet showed “astonishing bravery” in his performance, while Empire said the actor was “outstanding” and his “musical talent was unimpeachable”.

But the Independent said the biopic itself was “too safe” and Screen Rant described the “serviceable” film as a “fascinating but frustrating” portrait.

A Complete Unknown is released on Christmas Day in the US and January 17th in the UK.

Dylan himself supported the film, although he hadn’t actually seen it yet at the time he posted about it on X last week.

“Timmy is a brilliant actor, so I’m sure he’ll be completely believable as me. Or as a younger me. Or as someone else’s self,” Dylan said.

In their three star rating said Clarisse Loughrey of the Independent The film “takes a reverent stance toward Dylan’s artistry, populated by technically accomplished musical performances.”

She said Chalamet’s voice was “not perfect, but undoubtedly impressive,” adding that the film was “shot with a real sense of the emotional landscape of each track.”

The film is based on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book “Dylan Goes Electric!”

Set in the early 1960s, it tells the story of Dylan’s rise to fame and the conflict between his folk roots and his desire to expand his repertoire to include rock and roll.

The tension is expressed through the choice between the use of an acoustic and electric guitar, and Dylan’s lyrics gradually become more daring and more reflective of the world he sees around him.

The film’s climax is a notoriously chaotic performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, where Dylan was booed by some audience members for playing an electric set with an amplified band.

Deadline’s Pete Hammond praised the film’s production design, costumes and cinematography, as well as the lead role.

“At the heart of it all is a remarkable performance from Chalamet, who performs all the songs himself in an astonishing and authentic way. There is no lip-syncing or mixing of voices between actor and subject,” he noted.

“The music is, of course, worth the price of admission, but fortunately in Mangold’s hands there is so much more to add that Bob Dylan is far from a complete unknown by the end of the credits.”

The film also follows Dylan’s romantic relationships with two women in particular – civil rights activist Sylvie Russo (played by Elle Fanning) and folk musician Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro).

Screen Rant’s Mae Abdulbaki reflected: “I could understand both women better than Chalamet’s Dylan. Behind his sunglasses and taut body language, Dylan remains elusive.”

“The film is very much about an artist who doesn’t explain himself, and I have a lot of respect for that, but it also creates an emotional disconnect in narrative form. It was like watching a series of events that I was witnessing.” “That’s what Mangold is risking by keeping Dylan out of reach.”

It received rave reviews by Peter Bradshaw from the Guardian, who gave the film five stars and praised Chalamet’s “hilarious and seductive performance.”

“Interestingly, despite the classic music biopic tropes that Mangold made so popular, the story doesn’t conform to the classic rise-fall-learn-experience-comeback format,” he said. Everything is on the rise, but troubled and unclear.

The Times Kevin Maher was far less enthusiastic, Awarding only two stars

“There will be viewers who will view the recreation of Newport ’65 as a monumental cinematic event. But for many it will end with a huge shrug of indifference,” he noted.

“(Chalamet’s) performance is an unhelpful study in blank-eyed minimalism, while his singing voice is fine, if occasionally close to parody (but all Dylan impersonators sound like parody).”

With an acclaimed back catalog built over seven decades, Dylan is best known for hits such as Blowin in the Wind, Mr. Tambourine Man, It Ain’t Me Babe, Girl From The North Country and The Times They Are a Changin’.

“Perhaps Dylan himself is too mercurial a character for a biopic to ever fully capture.” wrote Robbie Collin of the Telegraph in a four star rating. “A Complete Unknown is as close as one could reasonably hope.”

“On the whole, the film feels more like a juicy drama about the rise to power than a scenic tour of an artist’s Wikipedia page.”

Elsewhere, The Evening Standard’s Nick Curtis joked The film made him “really, really learn to play the harmonica.”

“It’s a definitely unlikeable performance that’s a world away from Chalamet’s romantic leads,” noted Curtis.

“He captures Dylan’s stretching posture and the way he used his hair and sunglasses as a mask, the haunting hum and sharpness of his speaking and singing voice, and the strange, delicate isolation.”

A Complete Unknown also stars Edward Norton. The film is directed by James Mangold, the filmmaker behind the Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line and the films in the X-Men and Indiana Jones franchises.

The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney added: “Commendably, neither the film nor the actor glosses over the aggressiveness of a creative genius whose indifference to those close to him often stands in stark contrast to the humanity of his songs.”

“This detachment leaves something of a gap where the emotional center should be in Mangold and Jay Cocks’ script. Making a film about a puzzling subject is inherently challenging, and the writers deserve credit for refusing to try to solve the mystery of Bob Dylan, even if doing so also risks that they appear indifferent.”

Empire’s John Nugent concluded: “It’s frustrating that for a story about a poetic genius it’s hard to find something new.

“There are some interesting things about the burden of talent… But in 1965 he is almost always behind sunglasses, his enigma petrified.”

“The film does not claim to understand Dylan and suggests that Dylan may not understand himself either. This title seems literal.”