A great surprise!

Rating: 9/10 (19 January 2006)

I did not go willingly to see this, it was a toss-up between "Syriana" and "Walk the Line" and WTL won and I'm so glad. This is mainly a feel good effort from James Mangold and many of the warts of Johnny Cash are depicted, some in great detail: nothing is spared in the depiction of his first marriage and how selfish and neglectful his behaviour was towards his wife and daughters mainly through his use and abuse of drugs and alcohol. This is all stuff that was common knowledge. However, the underlayers to this were a brother who was accidentally killed and a father who blamed Johnny for being the son who was spared when his brother was so much more superior. Johnny's father has his own demons. What truly brings magic to the screen are the performance of the two leads and their surprisingly incredible voices. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon give their all and capture the spirits of Johnny and June Cash so extraordinarily well it is almost surreal. Bravo to all, well done! 9 out of 10.