"Walk the Line"
Reviewed by Nick Bailey

Stars : Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Patrick
Directed By: James Mangold
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox

A camera pans across a prison yard. Moving through the gates, and the empty cells of the prison, a rhythmic thumping can be heard. Then amidst the meaningless thumping, simple guitar chords emerge and the tone is set for Walk The Line. In these opening shots, the movie, and the life of Johnny Cash, is displayed and summarised. Simple, yet catchy, with an undertone of the lower levels of society, it is a life that is both glamourous and gritty, amusing and sorrowful, wealthy and destititute. The film exhibits all these unlikely pairings in a convinving and lifelike manner, that results in a finished product that is very impressive. It is no wonder that Phoenix and Witherspoon are the favourites to take Oscar home with them, they have excelled in emotionally challenging and physically demanding roles. Not only that, they both possess fine natural singing voices, Phoenix really has captured the spirit of Johnny Cash, and if you didnt know that it was all the actors' own work, it wouldnt be hard to think they were miming. The soundtrack has all of Cash's big numbers, as well as some catchy duets between Witherspoon and Phoenix. The sountrack is the stiching that holds the movie together, and is woven nicely throughout.

The movie covers the early years of Cash's life, showing us his childhood under the watchful eye of his father Ray (Robert Patrick), who perhaps is less loving and sensitive than the T1000 android Patrick made famous in Terminator 2. Bowed down by guilt following the childhood death of his brother, the early days of his life were not kind to Johnny Cash. From his posting in the Korean War to his first marriage, he struggles to make ends meet as a door to door salesman. In a story that if not true could not have been scripted better, Cash is discovered by famous Manager Sam Philips in a Nashville studio, and from then on he is on the rollercoaster ride that will be his rise to fame amongst the likes of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis in the 1950's. To elaborate on the rest of the film would be to ruin it, as the story can only be fully appreciated in the rich visual representation onscreen. The movie does conclude, however, with Cash's famous performance at Folsom Prison, so there is no coverage of his latter days, but the most important events are in the period shown anyway.

As mentioned previously, both Phoenix and Witherspoon are good chances on Oscar night, particularly following the film's glaring omission from the Best Picture nominees. (Who saw "Crash" coming!). They have a good chemistry as the couple that were seemingly always meant to be together, life long friends and long time married couple, the film is as much a love story as it is a biopic. That said, it manages to remain schmaltz free, and often times some of the best lines are in the repartie between Witherspoon and Pheonix. Witherspoon is all energy in her performance. She dominates all her scenes and is mesmerising as the larger than life June Carter (Cash). Phoenix is suitably more brooding and soulful, and delivers a very fine performance. Ginnifer Goodwin is also impressive as Cash's first wife Vivienne. Her gradual transformation from loving spouse to bitter jilted woman is convincing and evokes a great deal of empathy. The forgotten woman in the great love story of Cash and Carter, she was the mother of Cash's children and devoted to Cash up to and including the beginning of his long time abuse with alcohol and drugs.

Walk The Line clearly gets its strength from the performances, but its visual power is also engaging. The glamourous front of the touring 50's rock star is expressed in the meticulously compiled sets, from the glitzy stages of Vegas to the old world charm of a Southern theatre. Similarly the grotty surroundings of the stars off stage emphasises the fickle nature of the industry. Cash ultimately had few monetary difficulties in his life once he hit the big time, and gradually the movie switches to gorgeous sets, but more gritty people as Cash struggles with addiction. It is the ability of Mangold to present Cash's life in these constant contrasts that is the secret to the films success, all the way down to the casting. Phoenix's previous most famous role was as the loathsome Commodus in Gladiator, Witherspoon is famous for playing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Film credits dont get more diverse that that. My final advice? See the movie, then buy a Johnny Cash CD, and crank up the volume on the way home. You won't be disappointed.


out of ten

Reviewed by Nick Bailey

Moviemarshal.com home