Walk the Line

I finally saw it and I was a bit dissappointed. It seemed to try to cover too much and barely touched on a lot of stuff. I thought that Jaquine (Sp?) Phoenix looked the part and had Cash's body language down pretty well but he came across as a light weight. I did not see the gravity and depth of Johnny Cash in his performance. I thought Reese Whitherspoon was pretty good as June, although June was never that good looking.

 

Ehh. It was enjoyable, and I didn't get the feeling Joaquin was a lightweight, just that it felt a little too much like an impression (not unlike Jamie Foxx's Ray). I don't think it tried to cover too much, it ends decades before he does. But it did give the feeling as if writing the career songs you're known by, is something that happens because someone says a phrase that catches your ear and three minutes later, the words are all perfect, the band knows exactly how to play behind it like they would on the record, and so on. Music just doesn't happen that way, on the spot, by accident, even if the occasional song fills itself out in a matter of minutes. You just don't sit down with a pad of paper and poop out a legendary hit, and that process of creation should be a part of any musician's story, just as the inspiration was.



One thing I kinda thought funny was how they accurately portrayed Cash 'playing a part' that he paralleled, but didn't fill, in the prison-boy badass he wasn't, just like modern day rappers pretend to be mafia-style gang leaders who own portions of NYC or LA and, oh yeah, just happen to be on videos singing with Jennifer Lopez.

 

I did not hate it I just had high expectations I guess. I would have liked to see more than one scene of his fights with the record industry and more of the reasons why he did certain things. I guess the main focus was his pursuit of June and it did cover that part fairly well.

 

I'm going to wait a while before I see it because I don't think I can be objective. e.g. In the trailers Joaquin's portrayal of Cash's body enlish, etc. appeared exaggerated. I heard that Witherspoon's singing was amazing.

re: Cash prison relation

I read somewhere that when Cash played the prison concerts, he was a young man and strongly believed in prisoner rehabilitation, that most of the prisoners realized their mistakes and tried to be rehabilitated...something like that. Anyhow, as he got older he changed his perspective.

 

Witherspoon sings pretty well but she does not try to be June Carter. Phoenix sounds like they put him at the bottom of a well to record him so he would sound like Johnny Cash. It is not that bad though.

I think the whole prison thing as due to his coming up in the depression and having empathy for people who were down. Prisons were a different lot back then than they are today.

 

I liked it. I wish that they had spent a little more time going over the reconcilliation with his dad though.

 

I was let down tremendously by this flick. All that oscar hype and buzz. I barely kept my eyes open.

 

I was hoping for more about him as a performer and more about his music. The movie was really about his relationship with June though, which is fairly interesting too I suppose.

 

Personal experience?

 

I listened to an interview w/ the director on XM. He said his whole purpose of WTL was to show Cash's love for June. That's all. Not about his career. I'd too love to see his battle w/ Nashville. But that movie would of lasted 4 hrs.