Better than "Ray"........and that amounts to SUPERB

Rating: Null/10 (3 March 2006)

When making the inevitable comparison between Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, everybody talks about the obvious things  deprived childhood, rise to stardom, roller-coaster career (and life) due largely to drug addiction. The most uncanny similarity, however, is that how many people, musical celebrity or otherwise, have suffered the death of a brother and, what's more, been BLAMED for it?
When it comes to the respective movies that depict the lives of these two musical giants, there are some differences, two of which I like to particularly mention. First, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon did their own singing playing Johnny Cash and June Carter while Jamie Foxx lip-synced Ray Charles' sound track. (Kevin Spacey, by the way, also did his own singing in "Beyond the sea" instead of using Bobby Darren's sound track). In addition, "Walk the line" has something that "Ray" does not  a love story. Mainly for these two reasons, I give an edge to "Walk the line" but will not forget to add that "Ray" is also a first-rate movie.
I also like "Walk the line" better for a third (albeit not as important) reason  its straightforward narration. "Ray" employs more flashback, as well as a "fantasy" sequence. "Walk the line", on the other hand, takes a very common (but not necessarily bad) approach - starting from a significant point in the protagonist's life, it utilizes a motif (an electric saw in this case) to move back to the very beginning. Then it's simple, linear narration going forward to where the movie started, and then follow through to the end. If you have a strong enough script and a good story to tell, that's all you need, in fact all that you SHOULD have, lest you distract the viewers' focus and emotional correlation with the protagonists.
While we all have our Brokeback Mountain in our heart (quoting Director Ang Lee), Johnny Cash's burden was the "Boromir/Faramir syndrome", which a LOTR fanatic will immediately understand. If not, this is about a father who plays favoritism with his children (to the extreme extent of lamenting "losing the wrong child", in both cases), and Johnny is caught at the wrong side on the tilted balance. The other inner devil he faced was the frustration in not having his love for June Carter returned (in his perception), not fully appreciating Carter's predicaments. Although they were eventually both divorced from their respective spouses, the social pressure of Deep South Christianity was just too much for Carter to turn a blind eye to.
Long repression gave Cash his explosive temperament while unfulfilled love finally drove him to drug addiction. But the moviemaker have not neglected to show us the child in him, as in the scene when going fishing with Carter, he playfully tries to balance the fishing rod on one finger. But in another scene ten minutes later, we see him smashing everything in sight, including a wash basin, plumbing and all.
The love story is wonderfully told, balancing Cash's consuming passion against Carter's sensible restraint but steadfast devotion. The story of the rock music giant is just as wonderful, with Phoenix's splendid singing that Cash would have been proud of. Then when we combine the love story and the music together, in the legendary Cash/Carter duets, we begin to understand why these two singers feel the way they do about each other. When they sing together, they are at once in an intimate world all of their own and also a musical universe that they share with the audience, and it's such a joy to behold (and hear).
We have the two absolutely best actors taking us into the inner world of Johnny Cash and June Carter. Phoenix brings to life on the giant screen every small nuance of Cash's emotions, be it subtle or explosive. The very first moment she appears, Witherspoon captures the essence of June Carter who has been on stage since 4, with her witty playful public persona springing instantly to life the moment the spotlight is on. But watch for that very brief shot showing Carter, after introducing Cash to the audience, standing behind the curtain watching him tenderly, almost stoically  June Carter the real person. Then you'll understand why although this is Johnny Cash's story, she should win the Oscar. He should too, but is, most unluckily, pitched again a guy called Philip Seymour Hoffman, in a movie called "Capote".