Quite possibly the best film ever made
Wednesday 21 November 2007 @ 9:44 pm

I am so going to see this.




Walk The Line
Friday 30 December 2005 @ 4:54 am

I just finished watching this film. If anybody doesn’t know, it’s the life story of country / folk singer Johnny Cash, starring Joaquin Phoenix (the hair lipped fellow from Signs) as Johnny and Reese Witherspoon (the blond girl from those horrible Legally Blond movies) as June Carter. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.

The basic plot is as follows. Young Johnny Cash, here after referred to as “boy” has a hard life in rural Arkansas. Boy’s brother is killed at a young age and father blames boy. Boy grows up, gets married, and failing to be good at much of anything else, is drawn into a music career. Music career takes off, so does boys addiction to various vices (booze, drugs, the usual). Marriage deteriorates. Along the way boy becomes enamored with highly attractive country singer June Carter, here after referred to as “girl”, who is herself recently divorced. Girl, despite her interest in boy, resists his advances due to his problems and her own reservations. Boy hits rock bottom, girl rescues him, and eventually relents to his never ending requests for marriage. They both live happily ever after.

It’s a simple enough story and certainly not unique in Hollywood, but it’s delivered in a well crafted and accessible manner. The film is not without it’s flaws; it’s constant focus on the budding relationship between Johnny and June leaves almost every other part of his tale lacking. There is a continual flirtation with the relationship between Johnny and his disapproving father that just never seems to play out. In the end it remains unresolved, with the father seemingly accepting his son finally but with no real indication as to why. I also would have liked a bit more attention on his actual career. The fact that he is in fact a highly successful singer almost feels like an after thought.

Still, I definitely recommend the film, especially if you are in any way a fan of Cash. All the singing done by the actors is genuine, no voice overs here. Reese Witherspoon in particular really impressed me. with both her vocals and her performance. I never quite felt totally immersed with Phoenix as Cash, but June Carter was nailed perfectly. Overall, it’ll be a good rental once it’s available if you haven’t caught it in the theatres.