Phoenix and Witherspoon deliver career best performances as Johnny Cash and June Carter in this well-acted biopic

Rating: 8/10 (21 November 2005)

WALK THE LINE (2005) *** Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Shelby Lynne, Dallas Roberts, Dan John Miller, Larry Bagby, Tyler Hilton, Waylon Payne, Shooter Jennings. Phoenix and Witherspoon deliver career best performances as Johnny Cash and June Carter in this well-acted biopic from filmmaker James Mangold (who co-scripted with Gill Dennis, the screenplay adaptation based on Cash's two autobiographies) focusing on the iconic singer/songwriter struggling to find a voice, battling pill popping addictions and the stormy courtship of Carter. The excellent leads do their own singing (both never have doing so professionally before!) with inspired results in spite of the film's meandering along thru Cash's 1968 penultimate comeback performance at Folsom Prison.