Boring display of cardboard characters

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2006)

I expected a lot from Walk The Line, and although after seeing the movie I wasn't thoroughly displeased, it left a sort empty feeling. Walk The Line was much too long and it just didn't deliver the drama the story deserved. You could distill drama from what happened (like Cash's overdose or his performance in a prison), but it stayed there on the screen and didn't come across to the viewer.
Witherspoon and Phoenix were not altogether in their element. Witherspoon is far more convincing and quite believable, although not always in tune with the events. Phoenix is over the top, overacting his way into one of the lesser performances of his career. Although there was some chemistry, it was not nearly enough to make us believe in the passionate Carter/Cash love story.
The biggest flaw of this movie I found to be the directing. The movie lacks pace, guts and, sadly, an interest in the lives of the characters it displays. This becomes all too evident in the treatment of the "prop" characters: Cash's first wife, his band members, even a few popular singers of the time like Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis. They are cardboard characters. Ultimately this is true for the two main characters as well, who are saved only by their screen time.
I'll have to wait till a biopic of the real Cash is made. Until then, I'll probably grab a written one.