Good acting, well sung, but badly written screenplay

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2006)

I have the same problem with this film as with "Ray". Some writers seem to think it's enough to tell a few episodes out of the life of a fascinating person but that's simply not true. Just like in Ray, the audience is presented with a string of seemingly "significant" episodes out of a musician's life, which are supposed to make us understand his life. And again it's an all-American story: poor boy rises high, falls deep and then returns into the light. But if I'm interested in the facts, then I prefer watching a documentary. And if I watch a film, there should be more to a story, there should be some depth. There should be some coherent idea behind the whole film. This is not the case at all here. The way this story is told is a total failure. I was appalled by some of the messages that underlie certain scenes. Just take the Folsom prison scene. First he looks at some fan mail and it is suggested that he might be a light that guides them in the right direction. Later in prison he basically tells them what great guys they are. Can something like this really be conveyed uncritically (and with a close-up on the admiring eyes of June Carter)? My impression is that the story of Cash was told by someone who has no idea what he conveys with his words. The good acting mostly carries the viewer over those gaps but frequently I felt there were emotions without any motivation in the story itself. The movie is like very thin ice over a nothingness. As I said above, the only reason why the ice never breaks is that Witherspoone and Phoenix carry the audience along so well.