A feel-good, entertaining, and likable biopic that chronicles the life of the late Johnny Cash.

Rating: 8/10 (9 April 2006)

Walk the Line is an entertaining and likable film in the tradition of good biopics for the awards season. This time, it is about the late country singer, Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix). The film chronicles the man in black who grew up in a flawed household. His brother died when he was young and his father was an alcoholic. Later, he joined the Air Force and then got married to a woman named Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin). He becomes a salesman but his mind was always on music, because well  that was what he was raised on. The music he wrote about during the Air Force gave his success in an audition for a record company. The music was far from the gospel music he was raised on but was inspired by prisoners and inmates, based on a film he watched about Folsom Prison. On tour, he meets the flighty June Carter (Reese Witherspoon) whom he falls in love with even though they are both married to other people.
This film is easy to follow, understand, and adore. Even though the characters are flawed, they are likable. For me, likable characters technically make for a likable film and that is what Walk the Line is. Even though there are scenes where it shows the darker sides of Cash through his time in jail cells and drug taking, the film honors him Hollywood style rather than really make him seem like a bad person. His mistakes seem minor to the film's whole and even June, who Cash falls in love with during his tour with her while being married, seems sensible (I swear, if this was any other film I would say, "You've a family at home!). Walk the Line seems to imply that these are lovebirds that met each other at the wrong place and the wrong time and they belong together  and eventually they did get together. The film is almost more about their relationship than Cash's life, but that is really okay because every face of this film is likable  from the obvious Elvis impostor (who plays Elvis) to scenes that probably should be brutal  we seem to be enjoying ourselves.
The performances in this film are pretty good. Phoenix has always been a great actor (see Gladiator) and he portrays the later singer well. Even though I don't find Witherspoon that deserving of an Oscar, she was good here too, not failing to meet expectations. There is also Goodwin, who turns in a respectful performance as Cash's first wife, Vivian. But something didn't really click for me with the performances  they seem to be following too much of the script's likable-factor because sometimes the characters seem like they are from some fantasy land from the middle of nowhere. (Yes, I complain that the characters from The Last Picture Show are too shallow and now I'm complaining that the characters in Walk the Line are too likable.) The showy thing about this film is that Phoenix and Witherspoon have great chemistry with each other, and in this story, that is almost all that matters.
Nonetheless, it is a likable, entertaining, enjoyable, delightful and good film. Phoenix and Witherspoon both sing quite well considering they are both not professional singers. I have a great fondness for this film even though at times it seem like a very tacky biopic that probably borrowed some ideas from 2004's Ray. I think I liked Walk the Line more than I liked Brokeback Mountain (in other words, I would of rather seen Walk the Line receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination rather than Brokeback Mountain). Good film, good cast, good music  what more can I say?