Walk the Line

I first met Johnny Cash on U2's “Zooropa” while listening to the last song he sang with his beautiful deep voice (which Joaquin Phoenix also possesses), and although his work is not my cup of tea, he certainly deserved "his" movie for the inspiration that many music personalities, not only country but also rock, credit him with. Thankfully, Walk the Line isn't a boringly descriptive story, despite spanning a several eras, the viewer doesn't really learn much about Cash's achievements and work (which may disappoint die-hard fans), but the story focuses intimately on the formation of his relationship with his future wife June Carter (a sweetly vital Reese Witherspoon) and his almost obsession with her, showing his addiction to pills and his lifelong struggle to cope with the death of his brother. Joaquin not only sings beautifully and I believed his every move with the guitar in his hand, and his tormented look with the inner demons in his eyes, which he was constantly fighting with, was Oscar-worthy. Likewise Witherspoon, with the body of a fragile little bum, but the character of a strong woman and Cash's redeeming angel. The only thing that separates this film from 5* is the absence of a really strong scene that would be indelibly etched in my memory, except perhaps for a punishingly brief moment depicting a concert in Folsom Prison that gave me goosebumps. (16/03/2006)

Walk the Line is a musical biopic in the mold of Ray, but it’s a bit more sincere and concise, without so much Hollywood artifice, which can only be a good thing. Plus the superb duo of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. If only they would start making such movies about directors, which are closer to my heart than musicians, with the same degree of love… (18/01/2006)

For me, the movie that showed me that biographical films can be and are interesting, which has been confirmed in recent years to some extent, although of course not with every piece. Just remember "Behind the Candelabra!" Joaquin Phoenix inexplicably did not win an Oscar, despite his brilliant performance in which he managed everything, including singing. By the way, another reason why the film is excellent - Johnny Cash's songs. (23/12/2013)

Some movies will thoroughly change you, even with a proper distance. I mocked the country at the time of watching, Reese I more or less ignored, and everything was suddenly different after the screening. Although I don't actively listen to Cash, I took all the life warnings that Walk the Line subtly throws one after another to heart, and (however pathetically it may sound) I would like to believe that they helped me several times to turn correctly at the most important crossroads. This biographical spectacle is not among my top ten, not even among my top fifty. However, there is so much truth in it regarding temptations, difficult decisions, love, and career, that I once put Phoenix's portrait from the cartoon poster in my avatar - and I have kept it there until today. A personal film in the most obvious sense of the word. (08/09/2006)

I guess I've waited too long, because I've been sucked in a lot by various biographies or other films from the country and early rock and roll scene. I no longer see Walk the Line as above average anymore. I'm more bothered by the fact that the filmmakers only chose the romance with his second wife June from Johnny Cash's biography. It may have been enough for Oscar-winning performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, but it said almost nothing about the breadth of the phenomenon. (17/08/2022)