WALK THE LINE : Strong Film, But It Suffers From A Flawed Beginning...

Rating: 8/10 (23 November 2005)

WALK THE LINE
WALK THE LINE is a flawed, yet consistently engaging film. Though the movie falters at some points, there is constantly something on screen to keep the film enthralling.
My main problem with WALK THE LINE came in the first 45 minutes before the entrance of June Carter. Simply, the movie feels too standard... too been there done that... and too unfocused. The first 45 minutes are spent showing us the major points in Johnny's life before June (the death of his brother, his constant love of music, his struggles in the service, etc.). Considering this is typical fair to expect from a biopic, then why was this the most disappointing part of the film? Because the quality film the director has made is not a Biopic, but a love story/2 person biopic. Johnny Cash is a fascinating man on his own, and I'm sure had a biopic been made to specifically focus solely on him there would have been a great film there. But the first 45 minutes seem to me like the director simply wants to get to the June Carter story as soon as possible.
Once we get to the point of June's arrival, the movie gains a focus it hadn't had at first. It seems the director and screenwriters true passions were in telling the story of Johnny and June... and they should have realized this instead of being confused for the first 1/3 of the film about which story they are actually telling.
However, this is not to say the film is faulted. The troublesome first 1/3 is indeed flawed, but still never sinks lower than a good-yet-standard biopic. And what saves the film from being severely marred by it's opening is the performance of Joaquin Pheonix.
Pheonix is engaged in the role and has a focus from the get-go... even when an overall focus is missing from the film itself. Pheonix carries the first third of this film on his shoulders, and keeps it going through till the end. Ironically, the strongest part of his performance was how endearingly vulnerable he was able to make himself regardless of the terrible things he'd done.
And as for Reese Witherspoon, she matches Pheonix on every level and is phenomenal as June Carter. Two reasons for the film's improvement upon her arrival are... 1.) The film finally becomes focused and all the elements come together... 2.) Her performance is just so damn magnetic.
Overall, it's a great film featuring two incredible, Oscar Worthy performances. And despite the fact that it is far from perfect at first, the film sends you out of the theater on such a high that I had temporarily forgotten how disappointed I was at the start.
... B+ ...