Even as it follows the same musical biopic formula, the performances and directing keep it satisfying - until that horribly unsatisfying and underdeveloped ending

Rating: 6/10 (27 September 2019)

Make no mistake about it: this is a good movie because of the exceptional performances by Witherspoon and especially by Phoenix. Phoenix is unquestionably great here, clearly showing both Cash's determination and his struggles with addiction. He is also completely convincing on the stage, doing a great job as Cash in the numerous musical numbers. Witherspoon is also very good, but it's very hard to disentangle her performance from the bad scripting of her character, which gets at the deepest flaw of the film. She is given no ambiguity or time to develop her relationship with Cash - most of the movie he keeps trying to advance on her and, with one exception, she pushes him away. This comes to a head when he comes to her on the tour bus at 2 AM demanding that she marry him and not taking no for an answer, and she gets understandably upset with him. She then doesn't talk to him the whole day and then he proposes again on-stage. She starts crying and says no, keeps repeating no, and he keeps insisting and eventually she says yes. Not only is this ridiculous given the way she's acted and been scripted all movie clearly showing that's not what she wants, it is a terrible message to send - "if he just keeps trying and doesn't take no for an answer eventually she has to give in, especially if it's in public." I was shocked and disappointed when that happened. I understand that's what happened in real life, but then you have to present events leading up to it that make sense and create a coherent love narrative, not this one that feels impossible to get behind. There are plenty of minor traditional biopic flaws, such as the complete lack of any personality of his bandmates (or most supporting characters in the movie for that matter), and a bit of drag in the runtime, which isn't helped by the extensive musical numbers, though they're at least well executed. I would've really liked to see the psychology behind why he gets addicted to pills, and it was a massive missed opportunity to not show more of how he develops and evolves his unique musical style. We get a hint of its origin in the recording studio, but after that initial scene we don't see any of the creativity that made him so great. Mangold does a good job directing it, showing flashbacks and framing character's faces to emphasize the intensity (the Thanksgiving dinner scene and the musical scenes are prime examples), but it's hard to give him a complete pass given the inconsistent script relating to June. It's a decent movie that Phoenix just absolutely knocks out of the park, but the upsetting romantic ending holds it back significantly.