James Mangold doesn’t usually do "short." If you’re heading to the cinema to see Timothée Chalamet transform into a young, raspy-voiced Bob Dylan, you’re probably wondering how much popcorn you actually need to buy. How long is the movie A Complete Unknown? It’s a fair question. Biopics have a nasty habit of stretching into three-hour endurance tests, but this one is a bit different.
Clocking in at 2 hours and 20 minutes (or 140 minutes if you like doing the math), the film sits right in that "prestige drama" sweet spot. It isn't a quick sprint. It isn't an Oppenheimer-sized bladder-buster either.
Honestly, it feels about right for what it’s trying to do. You’ve got the 1960s folk scene, the grit of Greenwich Village, and that pivotal, electric moment at the Newport Folk Festival. To tell that story properly, you need time to breathe. You need the silence between the chords.
Why A Complete Unknown Runtime Matters for the Story
Most people expect a cradle-to-grave story. They want the childhood in Minnesota and the late-career reinventions. Mangold stayed away from that. He focused on a very specific, explosive window of time.
Because the movie focuses on Dylan’s arrival in New York in 1961 up through his "betrayal" of the folk scene in 1965, the 140-minute runtime is densely packed. Every minute is used to build the pressure cooker of fame. If the movie were only 90 minutes, we wouldn't feel the weight of the transition from acoustic poet to rock-and-roll iconoclast.
Mangold has a history with this kind of pacing. Think back to Walk the Line. That was 136 minutes. Ford v Ferrari was much longer at 152 minutes. He likes to let his characters live in the space. He wants you to feel the cigarette smoke and the cold New York air.
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Does it Feel Long?
Length is subjective. Some people find a 90-minute comedy feels like four hours, while others can sit through a four-hour opera and want more.
Early reactions suggest that how long is the movie A Complete Unknown isn't the problem; it’s the pacing of the music. Unlike some biopics where the songs are just snippets, Chalamet actually sings. He performs. These aren't just background tracks. They are full-blown set pieces. When a song takes up five minutes of screen time, the "plot" technically stops, but the character development is working overtime.
If you aren't a fan of 1960s folk music, those 140 minutes might feel a bit heavy. But if you’re there for the atmosphere, it flies by.
Breaking Down the 140 Minutes
If we were to look at the structure, the film roughly divides itself into three "acts" that don't follow the usual Hollywood formula:
The first forty minutes are all about the arrival. It’s the Woody Guthrie obsession. It’s the brown suede jacket and the harmonica. It feels like a discovery.
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The middle hour is where the friction starts. You see the relationship with Suze Rotolo (played by Elle Fanning) and Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro). This is the "meat" of the movie. It’s the fame, the pressure, and the realization that the folk community wants Dylan to be their puppet.
The final thirty to forty minutes? That’s the electric turn. It’s the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. This is what the whole 2 hours and 20 minutes has been building toward.
Comparing the Length to Other Recent Biopics
To put things in perspective, let’s look at how Dylan’s story stacks up against his peers on the big screen:
- Elvis (2022): 2 hours 39 minutes.
- Bohemian Rhapsody: 2 hours 14 minutes.
- Rocketman: 2 hours 1 minute.
- I’m Not There (2007): 2 hours 15 minutes.
Basically, A Complete Unknown is on the longer side for a music biopic, but it isn't an outlier. It’s almost exactly the same length as Todd Haynes' experimental Dylan flick I'm Not There. It seems there is something about Dylan's life that just demands at least 130 minutes of screen time.
What You Should Know Before the Lights Dim
You don't need to be a Dylanologist to enjoy this. You don't need to know every word to "Desolation Row." But you should be prepared for a movie that prioritizes mood over fast-paced action.
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There are no car chases. There are no explosions. The "action" is a guy standing at a microphone or arguing in a smoky backroom about whether an electric guitar is a "sell-out" move.
Search interest for how long is the movie A Complete Unknown usually spikes because people are planning their evening. If you’re catching a 7:00 PM showing, expect to be out by 9:40 PM once you factor in the 20 minutes of trailers that theaters insist on shoving down our throats.
Logistics and Viewing Tips
If you’re planning to watch this at home later on streaming, the length is less of an issue. But in a theater, 140 minutes is the "danger zone" for coffee drinkers.
- Skip the jumbo soda. You’ll thank me during the final act.
- Stay for the music. Even if you aren't a die-hard fan, the live-recorded performances are the highlight. Chalamet did the work here, and it shows.
- Don't expect a post-credits scene. This isn't Marvel. When the story of the 1965 festival ends, the story is done. You can head for the exit as soon as the text cards start appearing.
The movie captures a moment in time when the world changed, or at least when music changed. It takes its time because the transition from folk hero to rock star wasn't an overnight flick of a switch. It was a slow, painful grind.
Next Steps for Your Movie Night
Before you head to the theater, take ten minutes to listen to the Bringing It All Back Home album. It provides the perfect context for the second half of the film. Once you've seen the movie, compare Chalamet's vocal performance to the 1965 live recordings of "Like a Rolling Stone"—you'll see exactly where the production team spent their time and why the 140-minute runtime was necessary to capture that specific vocal evolution.