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Your Heading Goes Here |
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By : Suzanne Philips |
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| WALK THE LINE is the true story of
singer Johnny Cash from his childhood to his rise to fame and love affair
with fellow performer June Carter. Based on biographies written by Cash
himself, this film was written for the screen by Gill Dennis and James
Mangold and directed by Mangold( Identity). The story starts with Cash (Joaquin Phoenix-Gladiator, The Village) preparing to go onstage for the recording of his legendary live album at Folsom. The narrative unfolds in a series of flashbacks, starting with his childhood and the untimely death of his brother Jack. The flashbacks then proceed in a linear fashion that leads to the Folsom show. While some of the flashback scenes are a bit drawn out, they director does tend to step back and let his actors work. Sometimes the slow pacing of the scenes leads to great moments particularly from Phoenix. The performances, for the most part, are outstanding. Joaquin Phoenix, who I personally have always felt is an amazing actor, truly shines here. You really can forget you are watching an actor and think you are watching footage of Johnny Cash. You can see that he is truly trying to make something of his life and see the guilt he feels about the death of his brother and the "soul-mate" love he feels for June Carter, despite his being a married man. The scene where Cash is talking to his family, and his father in particular, about the death of his brother and his guilt over that is simply breathtaking. Phoenix said in an interview that it was a hard scene for him due to him witnessing the death of his own brother, River, and you can just feel that pain in this scene. Johnny Cash went through a lot in his life, from a fast rise to stardom to prolonged drug abuse, and Phoenix masterfully shows all of it. Plus he actually sings in the film! Yea for realism! Reese Witherspoon plays June Carter Cash who was a star from the time she was very small and has her life completely turned upside down when she meets Cash. Witherspoon is funny and charming and completely believable in this role. While she doesn't quite have the "power" role that Phoenix has, she has some lovely moments of realism. In one scene, June Carter is berated by a saleswoman for getting a divorce and her loose morals. You can certainly see the hardship she had to go through in her life to be able to be with the man she loved, Johnny Cash. Newcomer Waylon Payne does an amazing job of portraying Jerry Lee Lewis. He had all of the moves and mannerisms of Lewis down to a T. Much better job than Dennis Quaid by far! Though he is not in a huge part of the film, Payne is captivating on the screen and hopefully we will some more of him to come. Robert Patrick (of Terminator fame) was also noteworthy as Cash's father Ray. My beefs with the casting are primarily of Tyler Hilton(One Tree Hill) as Elvis and Dallas Roberts(A Home at the End of the World) as Sam Phillips. Perhaps because Elvis is not really a central character in this film, the producers and director were worried about casting someone that would pull focus from the story of the film. Maybe if you are not an Elvis fan you might not be bothered but Hilton didn't look like Elvis, didn't sound like Elvis and had none of the charisma of Elvis. You could have gone anywhere in the world and found a young Elvis impersonator that could have done a much better job in the role. I know Hilton is a big teen hearth throb but in this film he really bombed. I have much the same feelings about Roberts' portrayal of Sam Phillips. Perhaps if you didn't know Sam Phillips(and not to name drop but I did!) you might not have been bothered by his performance. On the surface I thought Roberts was good, but Sam Phillips had a very distinct way of speaking. He was always giving a sermon - whether he was talking about music, religion, or buying bread at the store. My point is that if you are going to portray a person who actually lived, you really need to do the research to find out what they were like. Phoenix and Witherspoon obviously did, so why can't they? I am sure there will be Academy Award nominations for this film and there should be. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Joaquin. While it is a bit long at 2 1/2 hours, it is well worth seeing, the music is great, the acting is amazing and the locations are great. 3 3/4 out of 5. And on a personal note, my friends THE DEMPSEYS, are in one of the scenes in Memphis with Elvis. If you ever get to Memphis, TN try to check out THE DEMPSEYS, you will not be disappointed!
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