Enjoyable and well-acted

Rating: 7/10 (9 March 2006)

I wanted to see this film for 2 reasons. First off, I am a long time Joaquin Phoenix fan. I remember him when he had to fit his tiny little body into a huge space suit and save the day in Space Camp, and when he was a troubled pre-teen having to deal with a deadbeat dad in Parenthood. As an adult, he conquered Rome. And now, he's conquered again. I must confess, I know little about the real Mr. Cash, so I can't comment on his portrayal, but the performance was stellar as always. His emotional moments with June(Reese) were moving. And his reactions to his father's rejections and humiliations felt so natural---and that piercing stare over the Thanksgiving table was wonderfully intense. I would have loved to see him get best actor (still not a Clooney fan). Oh well.
Secondly, okay, you caught me...THE HYPE--- I normally HATE, and I can't emphasize this enough, HATE hyped up movies...However, if it involves one of my favs, whelp...I'm guilty.
As far as my thoughts on the movie in general...It was enjoyable. The supporting cast was talented and did well. Although, I didn't see anything special about Reese's performance. Yeah, it was good, but, come on, Oscar-worthy? I didn't find the movie boring as some on the site have said. It's a story about a man's life. Honestly, and I've said this before, I'm not sure what those people were expecting to happen. maybe they thought they were there to see Crash and got confused.
In summary, I liked it. It's worth the time!