The International Writers Magazine:Movie Review

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Walk the Line (2005, Twentieth Century Fox), Directed by James Mangold. Bafta Winner - Best Actress Reese Witherspoon • A Gabriela Davies Review Walk the line is one of the most impressive films Hollywood has brought us since last year’s Oscar ceremony. James Mangold, better known for directing Girl, Interrupted, worked on the film’s screenplay with Gill Dennis for six or seven years before the film was released, and Johnny Cash chose Joaquin Phoenix for the role himself, although he passed away in 2003, having watched only the film’s first edit. Nevertheless, Mangold kept up the good work until its release, late in 2005, and is now heading straight for the Academy Awards podium, with one of the greatest amount of nominations yet.

‘Love is a burning thing’, and if we still had any doubt on the matter, Johnny Cash and June Carter show it well. Awards are not always a clear indication of a film’s excellence, but taken in to consideration that Joaquin Phoenix (Cash) and Reese Witherspoon (Carter) won or were nominated for Golden Globes, BAFTA’s, and Academy Awards for best male/female performance, they must be taken into account. The film is not as much about sex, drugs and country music as it is about love, not love in its soppy, huggy-kissy form, but companionship, admiration and above all, the contrasts between loneliness and company.

Inspired by the books Man in Black and Cash: the Autobiography, the film brings focus to the earlier times of the country singer’s life, and not the post-Folsom Prison concert fame that lasted him until his death. It all starts back in Arkansas, young Johnny shows a talent for music and suffers a life-changing experience when the traumatic death of his brother, Jack, at the age of twelve, leads him to an early state of brooding, lamenting and quietly, even unconsciously, composing. The direction of the film is fabulous. Although it is rare for anything less than film enthusiasts to appreciate direction, photography, set design and costume design, even the most average of its viewers will agree that a biopic this good has not been done in ages. Flash forward to a scene in Germany, 1952, and we hear Phoenix humming some of Cash’s most famous lyrics "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die…"

Walk the Line manages to avoid the mistake made by Taylor Hackford in Ray (2004), based on the life of Ray Charles, where actor Jamie Foxx’s mimicking techniques ruined the on-screen momentum. Whether the credibility comes from Witherspoon and Phoenix’s well-trained singing voices, or from the creative and professional excellence mentioned before, Walk the Line shows that you do not have to be a great appreciator of Johnny Cash, country music, or even of the amphetamine and alcohol lifestyle that was lead by many celebrities of that time to enjoy this film. It has something in it for all. In its musicality it is strangely addictive, his last track ‘Hurt’ plays constantly in the background and his most famous hits, ‘Ring of Fire’ and ‘Time’s-A-Wastin’’, with June Carter, will have you humming along in your seat whether you enjoy country music or not.

Perhaps this is what makes it such a good film. It shows country music at its greatest and repeats songs scene after scene, without being tiring, it shows the rise and fall (and then rise again) of a celebrity, of a man, husband, friend, father, without being a cliché, it shows the ups and downs and drugs and alcoholism without sounding like an after-school special, and it shows love, deep love, but without being cheesy, and without passionate, x-rated sex scenes. Walk the Line is, in this sense, human. What you understand about it and what you will appreciate in it is human, it is not extreme, and its very essence is that somehow Johnny, June, the Tennessee Two, Sam Phillips at Sun Records and all the other names we only ever dreamed of meeting are right before us: as human beings. Whether it wins awards for direction, screenplay or acting, they will be well deserved.
© Gabriela Davies. Feb 21st 2006
gabrieladaviesat gmail.com

Gabriela is a soon to be Creative Arts graduate from the University of Portsmouth

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