Dancing on the line

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2005)

It's tough for a movie to appeal beyond its target audience, but this one does. It all starts with Joaquin Phoenix, completely immersed in his role as Johnny Cash. So when an irresistible force (Reese Witherspoon) meets that immovable object, it must have been a lot like the chemistry really created between Johnny and June Carter. And they can sing too. But that's not where the movie's charms end, legendary performers (Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings and the Carters) -- who haven't come to life in biopics about those legends -- flesh out and add to the story. Last year, I was bemoaning that despite Jamie Foxx's tremendous portrayal of Ray Charles, the film itself was lacking. Not so here. Impossibly, unbelievably, ecstatically not so here.