Review of Walk the Line (2005) by Andrewk. — 25 Nov 2005

I don't give a high score very easily. I'm not apt to just throw out tens left and right. So an 8 to me means a damn good film. I knew very little about Johnny Cash to begin with, so I found the movie very enlightening.

He can hardly be qualified as just a "country" artist, as his music is obviously very blues, rock and even gospel influenced. Phoenix does an amazing job. And maybe I'm not a big enough fan of Cash to really know his voice, but I though Phoenix was dead on.

After hearing the real June Carter at the end of the film, I could tell that Witherspoon wasn't quite so spot on, but she sure got the energy and the spirit right. I was sucked into this film from the very start, and didn't find myself bored even once.

I barely noticed how long it was, and even though there were so many musical performance in the film, I never found myself thinking, "Come on! Get back to the story!" And I think that's because it felt as much a part of the story as everything else.

I could not help but be won over by Witherspoon (who I normally despise). She was incredibly cute when she needed to be and was incredibly real in her character's stubborn moments. Carter was obviously a rock for Johnny Cash.

And that's what this movie is all about. And it didn't ONCE come off as resembling a Lifetime tv movie.