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4 Reviews
Hmmm. Doesn't look like Nancy and Lee
In WALK THE LINE, Joaquin Phoenix shows that he's come a long way since his role as the crazy Caesar in GLADIATOR.
Those going into WALK THE LINE thinking it's a comprehensive film bio of Johnny Cash may perhaps come out slightly disappointed. While there's a relative brief sequence of his early years growing up on an Arkansas cotton farm, an even briefer sequence of his time in the Air Force in the early 50s, the film really begins in 1955 when, failing as a door-to-door salesman and wannabe gospel singer, he cuts a rock 'n' roll record for Sun Studios in Memphis and his career as a CW crooner takes off. The film ends with his marriage to June Carter in 1968. In between, against the backdrop of early hits, it focuses on his failed marriage to first wife Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), his self-destructive abuse of amphetamines, and rocky relationship with singer/actress Carter (Reese Witherspoon), a twice-divorced single mother of two.
The real treat of WALK THE LINE is watching Phoenix and Witherspoon amaze with Oscar-caliber dramatic performances. Who would have suspected that the latter was capable of anything other than light comedy?
In case you haven't seen the film and you're wondering, Phoenix and Witherspoon themselves sing the Cash/Carter material; they're surprisingly effective. Mind you, I've never been such a Cash fan that I've possessed any of his albums, and I've only previously downloaded one of his songs ("City of New Orleans"). Indeed, when Phoenix and Witherspoon recreate the Cash/Carter duet of "Jackson", my first thought was: Didn't Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood do that?
Coming out of the screening, my wife remarked that Phoenix sounded very much like Johnny himself. My response was a non-committal but prudent "Mmmm". Back home at the computer, I downloaded a couple more Cash songs, including his "Jackson" duet with Carter. To my ears, the real Cash had a singing voice that was slightly hoarser, and with a more pronounced slow drawl than Joaquin's version. While that doesn't detract from the actor's performance, it may cause purists to grumble.
The film's opening scene is of two guards on a tower at Folsom Prison listening to the bass "thump, thump, thump" washing over the prison yard from the hall in which Cash is about to perform his famous concert before the inmates. My wife and I were sitting in the front row of the studio screening theater and the sound reverberated through our bones. I knew then that WALK THE LINE was going to be an exceptional film.Read full review...
The Life behind the man in Black
This is the story of the Man in Black Johnny Cash. You don't have to be a country music fan to appreciate this movie. It has it all success, failure, love, hate, every emotion that makes up the human saga with an added bonus of great music. Even those that are fans of Johnny Cash may learn a thing or two in this movie. I was so drawn into the movie I didn't even notice time passing until it ended. You are really drawn into his life and feel for him in his losses and triumphs. This really is a great movie.Read full review...
Reese Witherspoon will blow you away
I've always Loved Johnny Cash! - It was fun to watch this movie and to learn many new things and stuff about his life I didn't know... Pheonix played a very fun and convinceing cash - Witherspoon was Fantastik... The performances in this movie will bring you to tears, make you laugh and ripe your emotional self limb from limb, If you only veiw one movie this month, please make it thisRead full review...
excellent movie, A +++
THis is a movie I could watch over and over again. I was not a 'big' Johnny Cash fan, but Phoenix & Witherspoon are excellent actors for these rolls. I could watch this one over and over. It's surely a keeper.Read full review...