The acting is stunning but the story is biopic formula

Rating: 7/10 (21 November 2005)

Enough can't be said about Reese Witherspoon's performance as June Carter. She nails the duality of a character who lives on and off the stage while maintaining a purity and charm that certainly has pushed her into the A-list.
Joaquin Phoenix as the man in black is superb as well. He takes the role into some pretty dark territory and sells it without question. Cash is haunted throughout, by the death of his brother, the mental abuse of his father, and a marriage/life that was rushed into. A complicated character made far more difficult to play by the fact that Cash is a man of few words - leaving Phoenix to mostly express himself with physicality and song.
This movie will not make Johnny Cash any new fans. His music isn't exactly as accessible in snippets as the grooves of Ray Charles (the comparisons between Walk the Line and Ray are inevitable as they have many scenes and a general form in common.) With Cash you have to get a sense of the persona he created in his songs...and film isn't the best medium in which to present lyrics.
A couple of scenes are absolutely stand-out. One being a diner scene early in the film after we have met June on stage. We get to see her and Cash plant the seeds of the relationship that the film follows. They have a huge amount of chemistry and it is vital that they do as their love story drives the movie.
Another standout scene is when Cash auditions for Sam Phillips at Sun Records and Johnny essentially becomes the Man in Black. After performing a limp version of a gospel number Phillips goads him into singing something that he believes. Cash whips out Folsom Prison Blues and by the time the Reno line comes around, Phoenix has transformed the character from doddling, loveless salesman into massive superstar.
The acting is worth the ticket, the story is standard. Its too bad that this movie had to come out so soon after Ray. They are so very similar.