|
"Reach Out to a
Prisoner Near You
Today." |
 |
Directed by James
Mangold - Written by
Gill Dennis and James
Mangold
Starring Joaquin
Phoenix, Reese
Witherspoon, Ginnifer
Goodwin, Robert Patrick
Distributed by FOX -
2005 - 136 mins - Rated
PG-13 |
| |
|
"Love is a burning thing..." |
| |
Like
last year's "Ray," "Walk the Line" is a decent musical biopic held
above water level by magnificent performances. Also like "Ray," it is
too slow to justify it's lengthy running time, and by last half hour,
I was shifting in my seat.
"Walk the Line" follows the early career of Johnny Cash, arguably one
of the greatest American musicians of all time. We see his rise to
fame, his drug troubles and his secret love for June Carter. Rise to
fame, love and drugs...yep, that's all you need to make a biopic!
Joaquin Phoenix gives a wonderful performance as Cash...certainly on
par with Jamie Foxx's Oscar winning portrayal of Ray Charles. Unlike
Foxx, though, Phoenix sings all of his own songs and even manages to
sound eerily similar to Cash both vocally and in his speaking voice.
The only thing that doesn't feel spot on is his looks. Phoenix is far
too good looking to be playing the grizzled Cash, but the performance
itself is good enough to make us forget this difference. Technical
aspects aside, Phoenix gives Cash enough character to make this one of
the year's best performances.
Almost as good as Phoenix is Reese Witherspoon as the love of his
life, June. I've wondered for some time now whether or not Witherspoon
could give an engaging performance that didn't feature her as a
scheming high school student. Like Phoenix she sings, she plays
instruments...and she's got my attention the moment she appeared on
screen.
There are enough turbulent events in this film to keep it interesting
and the script wisely chooses to cover a piece of Cash's life rather
than its entirety. The main flaw of this film is a common one among
films of this type...it's just too slow and meandering, particularly
in it's last act. Director James Mangold has a flair for shooting the
musical scenes, but he needs to keep the pace going. By the time the
film got around to fully confronting Cash's drug problem, I felt like
screaming "Enough already! End this!" Seemingly endless shots fill the
last 30 minutes, putting a bad taste over an otherwise fine film.
Fans of Cash and those who enjoy biopics should definitely enjoy "Walk
the Line," especially the performances from the leads. Those blind to
whole thing may be bored out of their minds...but the audience
reaction to this film has been overwhelmingly positive, so put an
emphasis on the "may," there. |
| |
|
© Written by Jacob Hall |
TC Candler's Comment
n/a
Richard
Propes' Comment
I found
myself more taken by Witherspoon's performance
as June, and while I wasn't quite 100% sold on
it being Oscar worthy neither am I upset by
Witherspoon's win. In any other year, Phoenix
probably would have walked away with his own
Oscar, however, coming off the heels of Jamie
Foxx's performance as another music legend AND,
most importantly, going head to head with Philip
Seymour Hoffman pretty much destined Phoenix to
be an also ran this year. I can't really fathom
the task of putting Cash's life story onscreen,
however, I was admittedly bothered by the film
leaving so much out. Still, the visuals are
awesome, the performances wonderful, the music
scenes inspiring and "Walk the Line" was
certainly one of the cinematic highlights of the
year.
|
