Movie Reviews
Ill fly a starship, cross the universe divide. And when I reach the other side, Ill find a place to rest my spirit if I can. Perhaps I may become a highwayman again. Or I may simply be a single drop of rain. But I will remain.
- Johnnys Cashs verse from the song Highwayman
For those who loved Johnny Cash, those who hated him, and those whove never heard of him, Walk the Line is a great film. Like last years Ray this is a biopic about one of Americas most beloved musicians, featuring a stunning performance by its lead, and taking us deep into the dark moments the life its based on.
Johnny Cash was, is, and forever will be an American legend. His uniqueness came from his low-pitched, scruffy voice and his brazing lyrics that might have been the only portal into his soul. His death two years ago was not so much a national tragedy as it was a time to remember a life filled with turmoil and sadness.
James Mangolds film is like the funeral none of us ever got to go to and the remembrance ceremony nobody got to see. Beginning after a short intro when Johnny is a boy, the film shows him pressed up against an old radio trying to listen to young June Carter sing a song. His older brother J.R. lies in bed and reads his Bible like hes supposed to be. Jack (Johnnys name as a boy) asks his brother why hes always doing what hes told; its so hard for him to do whats right. J.R. explains humbly that if hes going to be a preacher when he grows up, hes got to obey his parents and know the Bible through and through. A few words of encouragement dont seem to sink in when J.R. tells Jack that he compensates by knowing every single hymn in Moms old hymnal, but his words might have well dictated Jacks whole life.
J.R. works at a woodshop down the road from a pond where he and Jack like to fish, and the next day theyve decided that when J.R. is finished they are going to do just that. We watch with ominous tension as Jack impatiently sits, watching his brother work the table saw. It jams, locking a large piece of wood in the blade, and making it impossible for J.R. to pull it out or shut the machine off. Jack does his job speedily, running to his brothers side and slamming the big red button on the machine to shut it down. When he resumes his seat, J.R. tells him to go on and go fishing. Hell catch up with him when hes finished.
Mangold directs with inglorious realism as Jacks father takes him to his brothers deathbed later that afternoon and makes him watch as J.R., bloody and pale, dies slowly. Ray, their father, blames the whole ordeal on Jack. Its a horrible thing to watch little Jack run to his bed and bury his head in his pillows as his father screams that God took the wrong son.
Only a childhood such as that couldve spawned such a flawed genius as Johnny Cash.
And here comes Joaquin Phoenix as the Man in Black himself. Phoenix is so much like him in voice, appearance, and characteristic that its as if hes broadcasting the soul of Cash for one last run before it leaves earth forever. Watch the way Phoenix plays his guitar and move his lips, and try and tell me different. This performance proves what Ive thought about Phoenix since Gladiator: hes one of the fine actors working today. The movie and the performance are more impressive than Ray altogether.
Reese Witherspoon is also an overlooked talent coming out of Hollywood. We dont see it when she makes movies like Cruel Intentions. Witherspoon plays June Carter, the woman (as the film shows) who sticks with Johnny through everything: the drug use, the affairs, the overwhelming fame. She is flawless.
I guess the adoration I have for the performances comes from my love of Johnny Cashs music and the fact that Phoenix and Witherspoon do all their own singing. I love it when actors make themselves vulnerable like this; putting their names on the line for great entertainment and for roles that they must have been born to play.
Youve got movies like this where the major chunk of playing time is superb, and then you get to the ending, and there is none. Walk the Line suffers from this. With straight-forward biopics like this, we need a straight-forward closing. There are important characters with considerable screen time that have no conclusion. Aside from that, we dont get the undeniable glorification of Johnny; one that makes us sure, without a shadow of a doubt, that this movie was made for Cash and Cash alone. ***