Great Film; Great Acting/Chemistry

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2005)

Wow this is a great film. So good that I was surprised when I saw Cash's San Quentin performance this week on TV, I was struck by how very much unlike Johnny Cash Joaquin Phoenix's performance seemed to be, whether actually singing and playing, or say simply talking on stage. The real Johnny Cash seemed much more the exuberant extrovert, and, among other things, brighter, sharper, looser. Phoenix's Cash is darker and much quieter, but at the same time does not quite show us the Johnny Cash that wrote "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die." But as to this latter point, it may be that no film is big enough to show the whole of Johnny Cash, a very complicated guy.
No doubt that Phoenix truly captures much of essence of Cash. Because of that, and many other things, there is real magic in this film. Witherspoon and Phoenix simply crackle together. Their chemistry lights up the screen. Is this simply acting, or are these two somehow cosmically in synch. No one could doubt that these two as portrayed in the film would be together, and I sense that this is the essence of the Carter/Cash relationship, too. The sense if that if you meet folks that resonated like this in real life, you would know immediately that they quite a couple.
Most of the cast provides acting of the very best kind. The director has to get credit for that kind of overall effort.
The sense, too, is that the performances and the takes on the creative processes are spot on. This must be what is like to be this kind of celebrity/performer. I have only seen it once, so I can break it down, but I bet things like the lighting, costumes, colors, soundtrack (even apart from the fantastic vocal numbers), camera angles, etc., are a school for how to make a convincing film. I am sure that each contributes to creating an engrossing world on screen.
I would say this is a real film, too, in that the narrative is not so important as the creation of a convincing universe, with individuals taking completely understandable actions within that universe. Thus, the movie explores and reveals something of the human condition.
This one has Oscar written all over it, certainly for Phoenix and Witherspoon. Their performances are simply not to be missed by anyone that cares about film-making. I would expect Phoenix's efforts to influence lots of other actors. What he does is very effective with an economy of overt speech and movement. Talent by the gallon. Mesmerizinig to watch.
I only gave it an 8, because parts of the story-line, the narrative, seem trite, as if playing to the larger audience. Too much bathos in places. Phoenix is utterly convincing as man that has had great sorrow in his life. The narrative is distracting to me by dwelling on specifics. The point is not what happened to Cash, but what man was created.
But what is good in this movie, which is most of the movie, is tremendous.