Powerful film

Rating: 8/10 (28 June 2006)

I just saw the film on DVD. I thought Phoenix was great as Cash - he had the sound, the mannerisms, etc down almost uncannily. But I'm just surprised that Reese Witherspoon has received such praise for her portrayal of June Carter. Adequate performance, I guess. But I thought she was just a bit too genteel, too overworked, too well scrubbed for my liking. She never really seemed to LET GO. June was a salt of the earth, very natural, gravelly woman - with the voice to match. By the time she became involved with Johnny Cash, she'd already lived her own fairly turmoiled life. I just didn't get a real sense of that from Reese's performance. Maybe they should have gone with a lesser known actress who was a better match. More of a real woman than a Hollywood starlet. June just didn't really look that much like June, with her perfectly coiffed hair in every scene, and her higher pitched, thinner voice. June fully attacked a song, and she often wore her hair loose, thick and a bit disheveled. Sorry - I don't know what's wrong with me but it just didn't work for me.
The first time I really came to know about Johnny Cash was when I was reading a fifth grade class reader. The story didn't reveal the actual subject of the story until the end. It told the story of how Cash, hopelessly addicted and lost in an open area one night, experienced a real sense of God and an actual moment of hope and conversion, when he was at his most desperate and at his lowest point. I always thought that that was the true 'turning point' of his life - though, no doubt, June played a vital role in supporting and helping him through the process. I was just disappointed that we didn't see a bit more of that in the film. Instead, they focused on the 'love story' aspect.
Those are my two points of contention. But otherwise, a very entertaining and gripping movie.