I’ve been of two minds about seeing yet another biopic of a musician caught up in the demands of stardom and ego so it got past me in the theatrical run but with a little free time today and HBO On Demand finally saw Walk the Line, the 2005 movie about Johnny Cash, his rise to stardom and romance with June Carter. I suppose all those Oscar nominations, including Reese Witherspoon’s win for Best Actress, came from somewhere in the deserving territory.

Witherspoon actually is pretty good as the true love of Johnny’s life. Joaquin Phoenix, nominated for his portrayal of the Man in Black, was good but not far from his normal (IMO) scene-chewing standard job. The best acting for my money was Ginnifer Goodwin as Vivian, the first wife, though perhaps its sympathy for what her character went through only to lose her husband to addiction and the other woman. I also really liked Ridge Canipe as a very young Cash and

Follow up:

Lucas Till as slightly older brother Jack, their interaction was sweet and natural in a few early scenes showing the source of Johnny’s core pain as well as his drive.

The film only really covers about sixteen years in the singer’s life, except for about six minutes (I just checked) of screen time with the young boys, from his Air Force service in 1952 through 1968, when June finally accepts his wedding proposal. Johnny actually had been asking her time and time again for years, clearly in love with her from the moment they met on a Sun Records tour in 1955. Vivian, of course, was home pregnant with their second child the night of that Texarkana show.

Phoenix and Witherspoon do their own singing, the movie doesn’t use the original recordings, which I think was a good choice, comparable to Gary Busey’s terrific job in The Buddy Holly Story, rather than Jamie Foxx’s lipsynching in Ray. Foxx was great, and definitely the better actor, but in this aspect Walk the Line surpasses the Oscar winner.

The script is by Gill Dennis and James Mangold, from Cash’s two autobiographies, and Mangold directed. I generally like Mangold’s work, especially Cop Land and Identity, though I think he could have easily made this better by cutting 20-25 minutes from the 136 minute run time. Some of the scenes were too soft and others unnecessary, like the tape bomb in the tree and the confrontation with record label execs over recording his Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison album.

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