Walk the Line Barely Walked the Line

Rating: 7/10 (11 December 2005)

Walk the Line was a good movie, but if you walk in expecting to see a movie about the music of Johnny Cash, prepare to be disappointed. WTL is mainly a movie about the love story between Cash and June Carter.
Walk the Line started off very well. Within 30 minutes, we see how Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) grew up, his affection with music (listening to songs in his childhood, spending time in guitar shops and writing lyrics when he was in the army), and his turbulent relationship with his father ( who was blaming Johnny for his brother's death, and telling him his brother was the better son). Then we see his first audition, followed by his first gig, where he sees June Carter (Reese Witherspoon) for the first time.
Once June appears, the movie felt like a repetitive song. That song goes like this: John meets June, John and June sing a song together, John upsets June, John starts drinking and taking pills, John and June make up, and start singing another song.. This sequence was repeated 3 times. Now I know these events happened in Cash's life, but I'm also pretty sure there are other things we should have seen. For example, what were his relationships with other musicians? and more importantly, what were his relationships with his daughters? (he barely spoke to them during the movie). Also, Cash is one of the best songwriters of all time, so how did he come up with the ideas behind his songs? The weird thing is, we have two scenes of June Carter writing Ring of Fire, and only one scene of Cash writing music in the army, and another scene showing us how he came up with the lyrics of Get Rhythm (easily one of the highlights of the movie).
So, why did I give WTL a 7 despite all the problems I had with it? It's pretty simple: Because Phoenix and Witherspoon gave two of the best performances I've seen in a long time. Being a big fan of Phoenix since his "Inventing the Abbots" days, I knew he was going to pull it of. And he did indeed. I will never forget the look on his face when his first wife left him. The fact that he learnt how to play the guitar, and that he sings exactly like Cash is even more impressing. Anyway, the real revelation here is Witherspoon. 5 minutes after she appeared, I totally forgot she was an actress. I saw her on TV the other night and I thought "Why did she dye her hair blond?" and then I remembered Witherspoon is a natural blond and she became a brunette only for the movie. Her performance was sweet, funny, and unforgettable. Also, she sounded like and angel in the songs, and I wouldn't be surprised if she and Phoenix start getting deals from record companies in the near future.
So, I'd recommend watching Walk the Line, but I'd really love to see another Cash biopic, one that will focus on his music.