Movie Review
Walk the Line
Walk the Line poster
By Craig Younkin     Published November 23, 2005
US Release: November 18, 2005

Directed by: James Mangold
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix , Reese Witherspoon , Ginnifer Goodwin , Robert Patrick

PG-13
Running Time: 135 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $119,518,352
B-
The bigger picture, such as Cash's legacy on music or what he meant to his fans, is surprisingly missing.
In the genre of formulaic musical bios hoping to gain Oscar buzz, we have "Walk the Line". Joaquin Phoenix plays the "man in black", Johnny Cash. His story begins in Arkansas where he is influenced by folk music and his mother's hymns. He sadly also loses his brother in a saw accident he will never forget. Johnny joins the Air Force, during such time he meets his first wife Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin). After serving, Johnny gets a job as a salesman while trying to break into the music business. He finally gets his chance with his song "Cry, Cry, Cry." The song?s success sends him on a whirlwind tour towards stardom, his lovely singing partner June Carter (Reese Witherspoon), and drug addiction.

From this "Line" becomes a love story. Johnny and June meet in a cute fashion when her dress gets caught in his guitar string. June, a performer since the age of ten, turns it into a comedy routine. Johnny is instantly enamored with her and June is taken by him, but she is no idiot. In a way, Johnny and June are two lost souls, he a pill-popping musician involved in a marriage to someone who never supported him and she the ever loyal singing companion who knows he?s self-destructive. In waiting for him to clean himself up, she goes through several other marriages, which wind up in divorce. Much like "Ray", the movie spends a lot of time on melodrama such as Johnny's divorce from Vivian and his continuing problem with pills. This is inter-spliced with Cash concerts where young girls scream and throw themselves at him, only this is as far as the film goes in explaining his musical accomplishments.

The acting is first-rate with Phoenix leading the way with deep-voiced coolness. He plays Cash as a wounded, vulnerable, swaggering tough guy, dealing with a rough past through the music he writes. Reese Witherspoon is just as good, with her heavy southern accent and energetic perkiness as June. They even do their own singing, which adds even more to their chemistry. If "Walk the Line" tells us nothing else, and it doesn?t really, it's that Johnny Cash and June Carter were a pitch-perfect match meant to be together.
Craig's Grade: B-
Craig's Overall Grading: 340 graded movies
A10.9%
B41.8%
C31.8%
D15.3%
F0.3%
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'Walk the Line' Articles
  • Brandon's DVD review B
    April 3, 2008    If you've already bought the 2-disc collector's set and are happy with the features included, there is no need to buy this DVD. But if you love the Man in Black and all things Man in Blackish then this DVD is for you. -- Brandon McFall
  • Scott's review C
    October 15, 2005    All of this material might be a little more palatable if the production weren't so blandly straightforward. -- Scott Sycamore
  • Lee's review C
    October 15, 2005    A classic example of a made-for-TV bio-picture: Its demographic aim is very broad, and for anyone who knows the genre well, it is classic formula material. -- Lee Tistaert