An achievement on and off the screen

Rating: 8/10 (14 February 2006)

I guess I'd never listened to more than a couple of Johnny Cash songs before seeing this movie - and even then only with half an ear. A lovingly-crafted film, Walk the Line not only got me listening to his music and seeing qualities in it not at first obvious, but impressed me with the way it carries off a difficult undertaking and delivers remarkable performances (especially that of Reese Witherspoon).
The image of Johnny Cash seen in the first two thirds of Walk the Line is that of an unredeemed and not awfully likable man, ignoring his wife and child, recording songs with questionable lyrics, and getting involved in drink and drugs with all the attendant ills. He meets fellow singer June Carter (who is also married) and is instantly attracted. Cash's behaviour continues to worsen and he narrowly avoids jail or worse.
Many of Cash's songs are written from the depths of despair, by a man with no self-esteem. He dresses in black and seems to succeed against all best advice. Sometimes he is too drunk or drugged to perform. But at one point he recovers enough to read fan mail - much of it from prison inmates. His songs, it seems, have given them hope, a sense that someone understands them. For Cash, there are people who appreciate and love him when it seems no-one else does. He dedicates his efforts.
Walk the Line is a film of bad examples and prejudice, but also the possibility that there is a light at the end of the darkest tunnel. Cash's strict father blames him for the death of the other sibling and nothing Cash does can win a single word of praise from his father. Society condemns June Carter for being a divorcée. The whole film is redolent of the evils of straight-laced righteousness and arrogance (ironically, the Christianity that has spawned such attitudes is later embraced). But each individual has their own path to find. Cash's descent into hell was (without his intention) his means of reaching out to others. The legacy is one of which the music scene is appropriately proud.
All the songs in the movie are sung live, which might not suit die-hard fans (Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant and convincing though - I had to compare his renderings with the originals afterwards to see the leap in voice quality). But the real discovery is Reese Witherspoon (June Carter) who has found the most charismatic role of her career. When she enters, the screen lights up, and the expressiveness of her face, her perfect characterisation, and the sheer devotion and joy that she brings to the role kept me glued to the end.