“Walk the Line” Directed by James Mangold 20th
Century Fox
Ask people what image comes to mind when they hear the name
“Johnny Cash,” and the answer will likely be one of the
most famous snapshots of the late musician: a grizzled man, his
face twisted in anger, with one hand holding his trademark acoustic
guitar and the other giving the camera the one-finger salute.
Director James Mangold’s “Walk the Line,”
however, is not preoccupied with the surface failings of
Cash’s personality. Instead, it examines a man who lead a
life driven by love. “Walk the Line” essentially tells
the story of Cash’s (Joaquin Phoenix) early career as a
country musician, as he meets with both success and failure on the
road to fame. The film uses Cash’s 1968 Folsom Prison concert
as a bookend device, flashing back from one of his greatest
successes to his humble beginnings. Opening in 1944 with Cash and
his family working as cotton farmers, the film quickly gives way to
events and actions that shape the rest of the singer’s life,
including a tragic accident and a strained relationship with his
father. Over the course of the film, Mangold follows Cash as he
records for Sam Phillips and Sun Records, tours with the likes of
Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, becomes a prototypical
“live-fast-die-young” rocker, and ““ most
importantly ““ meets the love of his life, June Carter (Reese
Witherspoon). Like any biopic, “Walk the Line” is
defined by its actors, and with Phoenix and Witherspoon in the
fold, Mangold is truly blessed. Phoenix succeeds in becoming the
“Man in Black” to such an extent that it is almost
chilling to watch. Throughout the film, Phoenix makes Cash’s
unmistakable drawl his own, and painfully conveys the effects of
Cash’s drug abuse. One particularly powerful shot involves
Cash calling Carter on the phone and lying to her that he’s
clean. The camera stays unmoving on Phoenix the entire time ““
he starts off perfectly still but begins to tremble and shake as
the phone conversation goes on. By the end, Phoenix is nearly
convulsing, making it clear the toll the drugs took on Cash, as he
even goes so far as to lie to the woman he truly loves. “Walk
the Line” is really about Cash’s deep, unadulterated
love for Carter. As Carter, Witherspoon makes her presence felt
from the second she appears on screen. This is not the Reese
Witherspoon of “Sweet Home Alabama” or “Just Like
Heaven.” Instead, this is an actress who has truly invested
herself in and connected with a role in a way that only the
greatest of performers can. Witherspoon gives Carter such life and
energy that it is not difficult to see how she could make a figure
as imposing as Cash turn to Jell-O with a single word in her
Southern drawl. The film is built on the connection between Phoenix
and Witherspoon, and their chemistry is rock-solid. “Walk the
Line” is not a perfect film. Like many biopics, it can be
clichéd at points, such as the final concert scene. And, as
with every biopic, some liberties are taken with history. Mangold
tries to tie things up a little too happily at the end, changing
the reasons for Cash’s renewed Christian faith by ignoring
traumatic events that happened in real life around the time the
film chooses to end. Regardless of these limitations, however, the
film is still an extremely satisfying piece of work and should be
required viewing for fans of music and superb acting alike.
“Walk the Line” may not be a literal account of
historical accuracy, but it is something even better: a film
focusing on a pivotal period in a man’s life, and the woman
who was right there with him.
““ Mark Humphrey