I'm going to Jackson

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2006)

James Mangold's warts-and-all biopic of Johnny Cash's early years, essentially up to the Folsam Prison concert, is no better and no worse than most movies of its kind. Mangold films it in a literal, conventional style, (it lacks the imagination and vision that Kevin Spacey displays in "Beyond the Sea"), but interestingly makes the high points revolve principally around the music. If the banality of Cash's first marriage, his drug taking and life on the road ever threaten to drag the film down there are always those songs, which to fans may seem like second nature. And at the heart of the film are two wonderful performances.
Joaquin Phoenix is magnificent as Cash, totally inhabiting the role, wearing his mantle like a second skin. And Reese Witherspoon is his equal as June Carter, trying to disguise a well of emotion with a wise-crack and a mile-wide smile. Both players do their own singing which is fine by me, giving their performances added depth. While not detracting from Jamie Foxx's ability to lip-sync as Ray Charles in last year's "Ray", I always felt it reduced his performance to that of a consummate mime artist. There are no such problems with Phoenix and Witherspoon's remarkably lived-in performances. While neither player is in the Cash/Carter league they certainly don't disgrace themselves and, at best, make you want to rush home and listen to the originals.
It's also remarkably free of sentimentality. If the heart-strings are ultimately tugged at Cash's on-stage marriage proposal it has more to do with their superb rendition of "Jackson" than with the proposal itself. And if it sounds cheesy, let me assure you it isn't.