Acting makes the movie

Rating: 6/10 (10 January 2006)

The script for this movie is familiar (at least to Johnny Cash fans) and somewhat pedestrian. The acting, however, is superb. Perhaps the best decision James Mangold made is to have Phoenix & Witherspoon doing their own singing. Witherspoon does a better job approximating June's high, playful twang, but Phoenix's performances make you forget that he sounds very little like Cash. Being a Johnny Cash fan for almost 30 years now, I didn't expect Phoenix to be able to convince me. I was wrong.
This isn't a great movie. There are no new insights into the man (then again, Cash always was an open book). The photography is pretty, but unremarkable. Walk the Line is, however, great entertainment, primarily because of the work of Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, and Robert Patrick. Definitely worth seeing.