A Run-of-the-Mill Good Biopic

Rating: 6/10 (12 February 2007)

Biopics about musical talents are usually a double-edged sword in terms of enjoyment; on the positive side, if that musical talents happens to have incredible music (and Johnny Cash falls into this category) then the least you will get is a decent two-hour soundtrack; however, does good music equate to an interesting life? Johnny Cash was widely known as grizzly bear of a man, rough-edged and with a deep and unknowable chasm of a past. His stint at Folsom Prison forever shaped his image, and the few scenes that deal with the event are among the most powerful in James Mangold's Walk the Line. Unfortunately, coming off the heels of 2004's Ray, this biopic treads a path that was too recently trekked; a path too familiar in the biopic genre of film: singer struggles to find talent, upon finding said talent become a star, falls in love, has children who remain out of focus, trudges through years of some form of drug, and comes out a champion. Luckily, Joaquin Phoenix is good enough to fill in the large footsteps created by Jamie Foxx, though the commonalities of the biopic genre are not challenged.
June Carter, played by Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde), was a vital force in Johnny Cash's life. Like a sweeter Jekyll and Hyde, Reese expertly portrays an innocent and naïve Southern dame while on stage, whilst showing off her fiery and relentless devotion in her private life with Johnny. The acting throughout is top notch, with a notable performance by Waylon Payne  Jerry Lee Lewis came alive once more on screen rivaling Dennis Quaid's 1989 rendition of the partygoer. Like Ray, however, brilliant acting is the saving grace for an otherwise run-of-the-mill movie about a 50s-60s performer.
Walk the Line is worth a watch for Cash's witty and swinging music and the good performances, but I can't help but wonder how this movie could have been done differently had director James Mangold taken a few more risks to avoid the biopic outline. While the love interest and drug addiction and their interrelation are an integral part of Cash's early life, the real reason fans are interested in the man behind the music is the highway man, the wanderer, the man in black, the man who's been everywhere. Walk the Line provides a textbook portrait of Johnny Cash's early life without revealing the mysteries of his heart, his soul, his thoughts. Cash's interest and sympathy for inmates is revealed but in his performance at Folsom, but never finds an equal footing with the addiction and love story. We get the clear idea that June Carter is to be thanked for removing him from a spiraling ring of fire, but we never get a clear indication of what form by which that ring of fire manifested itself besides what can be seen on the outside. Thus, Walk the Line succeeds in its purpose: making a good biopic, but fails to take enough risks to propel itself ahead of such films such as Ray or Great Balls of Fire!, instead feeling more comfortable lying beside them as an equal. (7/10 Good)