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 (2)
Plots(1)
Singer. Rebel. Outlaw. Hero. With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as dark as the night, the legendary "Man in Black" revolutionized music?and forged his legacy as a genuine American icon. Golden Globe winners Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon star (and sing) as Johnny Cash and June Carter in this inspiring true story of one man's unwavering devotion to his sound, his message and the greatest love of his life. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
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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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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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.
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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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In the context of the film's ambitions, which largely focus on the more complex and mainly darker side of Johnny Cash's personality, there's not much to reproach. Mangold is very adept at navigating the rock 'n' roll scene and wild life of the 60s, and he handles the interweaving of the three basic plot levels – Johnny's mental decline, the fateful love between him and June, and the problematic relationship between him and his father – with understated craftsmanship. But the film sticks to this scheme so tenaciously that the true and unique story about the beginnings of a music legend ends up being a classic Hollywood romance devoid of any surprises. But that doesn't change the fact that the film itself is great, that Johnny Cash's music is timeless, and that Joaquin and Reese not only look great together but also sing absolutely amazingly well. Superb filmmaking, deservedly rewarded with the attention of the Academy. 85%
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