A Good Sanitized, Choppy Biopic

Rating: 7/10 (23 January 2019)

27 November 2005. This movie could have been so much better. While containing some great scenes, overall this biopic had a rough, uneven, choppy beginning with editing, continuity, and pacing problems that raised more questions about the script/plot than answers, leaving a lot of interesting transition questions lingering. The important relationships between father and son weren't strong. The way June Carter's role was presented in the movie almost screamed for having more emphasis placed on her life story as well (which occurred somewhat and belatedly later in the film). We seen Johnny Cash go from going fishing, suddenly working with his brother. We see Johnny Cash looking at a guitar and then suddenly later with a guitar. We never see how Johnny Cash learned to play, how he developed his music. The first half of the movie is composed of just snap shots of supposedly important events that never really provide a smooth and continuous understanding of Mr. Cash's early life story. We never seen if his tour with June Carter continued or stopped when she threatened to quit. Mr. Carter's dalliances were softened into suggestive affairs.
Several great scenes included his fight with his wife that was actually one of the few gritty, graphic cinematographic change ups with photographic camera technique. His scene in at the cafe counter with June Carter, his scene with breaking up the sink are classic dramatic performances.
There was good material, the music and singing delightful, but overall, the movie never obtained the greatest that a better script and selective directorial approach could have inspired. Seven out of Ten Stars.