Not quite "Ray...with white people",but...

Rating: 8/10 (25 April 2006)

...the similarities are there. This biopic of another music legend,this time Johnny Cash, uses about the same map of storyline: popular-but-troubled superstar comes from very poor backgrounds(Ray Charles from rural,tenant farming Northern Florida,Johnny from rural,dirt-farming Arkansas),both witness traumatic events involving their brothers(Ray's brother drowns to death in front of him,Johnny's brother is sawed in half and bleeds to death in front of him),both take up music as somewhat of a pipe-dream,both find love with women who are far more straight-laced than they(Ray's wife Della Bea and Johnny's second wife,June Carter,are singers in gospel traditions. Johnny's first wife,Vivian,is a conservative,non-entertainment involved housewife),both endure spiraling drug addictions,both bottom out,both reach "defining moments" and both rise above their lowest moments with the help of family and TRUE friends.
Director JAmes Mangold's movie is something that frames the man and legend of the Man In Black very nicely,period. Throw in Reese Witherspoon's subtle,pained performance as June Carter(soon-to-be Cash) and nice turns from Robert Patrick and Shelby Lynne as Johnny's folks,RAy and Carrie Cash. It,also like Ray,is almost entirely a film built about and around the main character,so it seems to be tough to separate it from its star,so Joaquin Phoenix has a HUGE burden of carrying this film as Cash,and while he isn't quite as indistinguishable from his character as Jamie Fox seemed to be from Ray Charles,he still fills out Cash's shoes more than adequately and gives you some emotional depth that is necessary to make this film feel right.
Fans of Cash will especially feel edified by this picture,but even people who may not quite be fans of the legend should get something out of seeing this,too.