Walk the Line

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. (21/02/2011)

Some movies will thoroughly change you, even with a proper distance. I mocked the country music while I was watching it and pretty much ignored Reese Witherspoon, but then everything was suddenly different after I saw it. Although I don't actively listen to Johnny Cash, I took to heart all the life warnings that Walk the Line subtly piles on one after another, and (however pathetic it may sound) I would like to believe that they helped me several times to take the right turn at the most important crossroads. This biographical spectacle is not among my top ten, nor even among my top fifty. And yet there is so much truth in it regarding temptations, difficult decisions, love, and career, that at one point I even put Joaquin Phoenix's portrait from the hand-drawn poster as my profile picture – and I have kept it there until today. A personal film in the most obvious sense of the word. (08/09/2006)

Damn, this turned out really well! James Mangold is always a guarantee of quality, though biographical films are usually not my thing. However, Johnny Cash and his life journey ultimately drew me in! It’s one of the best genre contributions in terms of casting; Joaquin Phoenix overshadowed everyone else, immersing himself in the role of Cash 120 percent :) Plus, he gave the legendary songs of this musical genius a new, authentic touch; I had no idea Phoenix had such a musical talent. So I don’t understand how he didn’t win that Oscar—such a robbery. Witherspoon supported him admirably, and the chemistry between them worked (at least she got an Oscar). I liked how the film didn’t just focus on the bright moments of his career, but fully showed that fame also has its dark side (drugs, infidelity). Even though I'm not usually into musical films, this one, along with Bohemian Rhapsody, reinforced that films with this focus can be something special if done masterfully. 8.5/10 (01/09/2021)

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? (23/01/2012)

Walk the Line is a musical biopic in the mold of Ray, but it’s a bit more sincere and concise, without so much Hollywood artifice, which can only be a good thing. Plus the superb duo of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. If only they would start making such movies about directors, which are closer to my heart than musicians, with the same degree of love… (18/01/2006)