The new Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown,” hits movie theaters on Christmas Day. It’s already considered a leading contender to land Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor, with Timothée Chalamet winning raves for his performance as a young Bob Dylan.

What's next?: "A Complete Unknown" hits theaters on Christmas Day. Along with Chalamet, the movie stars Ed Norton as Pete Seeger, Elle Fanning as Dylan's girlfriend Sylvie Russo (who, according to reports, is a fictionalized version of Suze Rotolo), and Monica Barbaro as fellow folk star Joan Baez.

So when director James Mangold takes liberties with Bob Dylan’s story in the new engrossing, musically rich period-piece, “A Complete Unknown,” we feel compelled to speak up. We know that the Minnesota bard invented things in his own biography and ...