Movie Review: Walk the Line

Walk the Line: Torgo disapproves

This movie is basically the Confederate version of "Ray." Like any "Behind the Music" episode, it tracks the star's beginnings in obscurity, miraculous rise to success, fall from grace into drug dependency, then heroic reemergence.

This may be exactly what happened to Johnny Cash. That doesn't mean it's great material for a movie. Maybe if "Ray" hadn't come out so recently, and if Ray Charles hadn't led such a similar life, right down to the guilt over his brother's childhood death, then maybe I'd be more inclined to like "Walk the Line."

I enjoy some of Johnny Cash's music. I like the whole "man in black" image. I also think Reese Witherspoon is great in almost anything she does (particularly "Election"). She's great here, too.

And, truth be told, I can't stand Joaqui'ei'an Phoenix. I can't even spell his name. I don't think he's a great actor. He's all brooding and angry stares. He seems shallow to me, incapable of presenting an entirely developed character.

Plus there's this: normally, the 'deleted scenes' on a dvd are pointless. When we watch them, we usually understand quickly why the scenes were deleted. But here, there are several scenes, including entire sequences of scenes, that could have developed the characters and story more fully. Several scenes, for example, develop Cash's relationship with his first wife as well as adding complexity to their marriage and his role as father.

There are also a couple of deleted scenes that would have further explained Cash's drug dependence, highlighting his trauma over his brother's death. I think these scenes would have felt too similar to "Ray," and perhaps that's why they were cut. But as it is, the movie never justifies why Cash became such a pill popper. One day, he just starts taking them.

To differentiate the story from "Ray," I think the filmmakers tried to focus on the love story between Cash and June Carter. This also might have been the result of casting Reese Witherspoon who, as I mentioned, is terrific. In fact, I think I might have preferred to watch her story, how the Carter family rose to success, then June had her misadventures as a divorcee looking to play to a religious, conservative audience. Oh well.