Directed by:
James MangoldCinematography:
Phedon PapamichaelComposer:
T Bone BurnettCast:
Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Dallas Roberts, Dan John Miller, Larry Bagby, Shelby Lynne, Tyler Hilton, Waylon Payne (more)VOD (5)
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Drama following the life of the legendary 'Man in Black', Johnny Cash. The movie begins in 1955, when a tough, skinny guitar-slinger who called himself J.R. Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) walks into the soon-to-be-famous Sun Studios in Memphis. It was a moment that would have an indelible effect on American culture. With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as deep and black as night, Cash sang blistering songs of heartache and survival that were gutsy, full of real life and unlike anything heard before. That day kicked off the electrifying early career of Johnny Cash. As he pioneered a fiercely original sound that blazed a trail for rock, country, punk, folk and rap stars to come, Cash began a rough-and-tumble journey of personal transformation. In the most volatile period of his life, he evolved from a self-destructive pop star into the iconic 'Man in Black' - facing down his demons, fighting for the love that would save him time and again, and learning how to walk the razor-thin line between destruction and redemption. Reese Witherspoon won a Best Actress Academy Award for her role as June Carter, Cash's long-suffering wife. (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (11)
I first met Johnny Cash on U2's “Zooropa” while listening to the last song he sang with his beautiful deep voice (which Joaquin Phoenix also possesses), and although his work is not my cup of tea, he certainly deserved "his" movie for the inspiration that many music personalities, not only country but also rock, credit him with. Thankfully, Walk the Line isn't a boringly descriptive story, despite spanning a several eras, the viewer doesn't really learn much about Cash's achievements and work (which may disappoint die-hard fans), but the story focuses intimately on the formation of his relationship with his future wife June Carter (a sweetly vital Reese Witherspoon) and his almost obsession with her, showing his addiction to pills and his lifelong struggle to cope with the death of his brother. Joaquin not only sings beautifully and I believed his every move with the guitar in his hand, and his tormented look with the inner demons in his eyes, which he was constantly fighting with, was Oscar-worthy. Likewise Witherspoon, with the body of a fragile little bum, but the character of a strong woman and Cash's redeeming angel. The only thing that separates this film from 5* is the absence of a really strong scene that would be indelibly etched in my memory, except perhaps for a punishingly brief moment depicting a concert in Folsom Prison that gave me goosebumps.
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Narratively, it’s very similar to Ray, with an equally straightforward and essentially very simple plot, relying mainly on the strong performances. However, unlike Taylor Hackford, James Mangold has a much greater sense for portraying intimate scenes, and above all, Walk the Line is much more sincere and honest as a whole, compared to the overly politically correct Ray. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon give their absolute best and their performances rank among the finest to be seen in the past year – Reese's Oscar is very well-deserved. Unfortunately, Johnny Cash's biopic has its downsides as well. These include a somewhat too simple script, a bit too many clichés and those typically polished and visually appealing scenes that, with a bit of attention, are transparent as glass. Solid and above all proper craftsmanship, and in the end, just slightly better than the purely average, somewhat tedious and slightly tiring Ray.
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Walk the Line, a film about my favorite singer, has been in my house for a long time, and I've been putting it off as long as I've been looking forward to it. I was afraid that maybe I wouldn't like it, that it wouldn't live up to my expectations, that it would be lousy and I would be angry and wonder why someone made it if they couldn't even do it properly. But I watched the DVD yesterday and what can I tell you? All I had to do was watch the introduction from Folsom Prison and all my fears were gone. For two whole hours I was amazed by the performances of Joaquin Phoenix (he flawlessly studied almost every move of Cash and especially during the shots from a distance he is indistinguishable from the real Man in Black on the stage) and Reese Witherspoon, who would have made "Johnny and June" happy (they chose both actors), I sang along, smiled and stomped my feet, watched all the greats from Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis to Waylon Jennings to Carl Perkins and the Carter family shuffle through the story, and thought to myself: that turned out great! What I knew mainly from photographs simply came to life. And it came to life in a great way. I won't criticize the script, because in this case it was simply capturing an important part of a great man's life, and we can be glad that it didn't turn out to be tearful lingering boredom, but rather a film that felt so good. I give four stars for the film and five stars out of respect for the master. I have only two complaints. One smaller and one bigger. The smaller: The Folsom concert should have been longer, at least one song longer. The bigger: How could the writers completely leave out Bob Dylan?
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I love biopics, and Walk the Line is a prime representative of this category. The film is about the tumultuous life of Johnny Cash, who spent much of his life battling his personal demons, and it's shot with elegance and feels very believable, thanks largely to the breathtaking performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. I love country music style because it's full of life and rhythm, and the two main protagonists add even more juice. In short, a great job of filmmaking, where I appreciate especially the theme, the acting and the music.
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For me, a film that showed that biopics can be and are interesting, which has been pretty much confirmed in recent years, though of course not with every piece. Remember Behind the Candelabra? Joaquin Phoenix completely incomprehensibly didn't win the Oscar, despite his great performance, which included all the singing. By the way, another reason why the film is great is the songs of Johnny Cash.
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