A Passionate Friendship

Rating: Null/10 (28 August 2012)

It's funny how I had seen the parody film 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' before watching 'Walk The Line'. Not that I was expecting to laugh at the latter, quite the contrary. The film was on my to-watch list for a long time and when I finally got to see it, I was of course excited and to me, 'Walk The Line' is very much its own film because as a viewer the story got me involved and I wasn't thinking of any other film while watching. Now parallels will be drawn to Taylor Hackford's 'Ray' (and a few other musician biopics) and yes there are some strong resemblances especially in their childhood, their relationships with women and their struggle with drug abuse but there are bound to be similarities between most biopics based on musicians.
James Mangold's film looks very nice. It has the eye-candy factor working for it thanks to the fine works of the art team, costume and makeup department. Phedon Papamichael's cinematography is remarkable as not only does it catch the beauty of the landscape but it also contributes to the mood of each scene. The soundtrack helps create energy and as is a keeper a standalone.
'Walk The Line' is based on Cash's own book focussing mainly on his relationship with June Carter. The film wonderfully portrays the ups and downs of the passionate relationship they shared, a beautiful friendship built on love, respect, friendship and genuine care for one another, that eventually lead to marriage. The memorable dialogues are written amusingly with fine tongue-in-cheek humour. Both lead characters could have easily become biopic clichés but they are very richly defined and so the rest depends on how they are portrayed.
Phoenix and Witherspoon breathe fire into their roles as they dazzle the screen capturing every nuance and are spot on with every detail. And, they can sing too. It couldn't have been an easy job as Cash and Carter have distinct styles but the two actors nail it. Ginnifer Goodwin is great and the rest of the supporting cast do a fine job (both in acting and singing).
While 'Walk The Line' successfully displays the glamour, energy and wildness of the 60s, in the end it's about a man who overcomes his demons thanks mainly to the woman who's always been there for him.