- Rated PG-13
- Drama
- 2005
- Buy the DVD
All photos © 20th Century Fox
Reviewed by Jason Zingale
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fter sitting through a grab bag of biopics last year ranging from the noteworthy “Aviator” to the over-hyped “Ray,” it’s nice to see a film that actually delivers justice to its subject. Howard Hughes will forever be remembered as a complete nut job, regardless of the advances he made in the world of aviation, and Ray Charles has probably lost a good deal of respect from fans after finding out about his drug-laced, adulterating lifestyle. Still, while Johnny Cash was no angel himself, his troubles are much easier to forgive with the serene Joaquin Phoenix behind the musician’s trademark shades and Reese Witherspoon by his side.
Based on Cash’s memoirs, “Man in Black” and “Cash: The Autobiography,” director James Mangold chronicles the life of the famed musician (Phoenix) from his days growing up on his father’s (Robert Patrick) cotton fields to his legendary performance at Folsom Prison in a well-paced feature that actually focuses more on his relationship with second wife June Carter (Witherspoon) than his music. The film makes quick mention of his days in the Air Force and his first marriage to Vivian Liberto (Ginnifer Goodwin), but a bulk of the story takes place following his audition for producer Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts) at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. Before long, Cash was headlining a major tour that included other musical icons like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, but a struggle with drug addiction threatened his career in the mid 60’s before transforming into the legend he is today.
Curiously, “Walk the Line” isn’t as powerful of a film as you would expect from a potential Oscar winner, but the lead performances are more than enough reason to check out this picture. Joaquin Phoenix is absolutely mesmerizing as the late Johnny Cash, and is not only a dead ringer for the Man in Black physically, but also vocally. It’s no surprise that the real life Cash hand-picked Phoenix to play the role before passing in 2003, but the actor’s dedication goes much further, including singing all of the songs himself as well as learning to play guitar. Witherspoon is equally enchanting as June Carter, who also did all of her singing, and interestingly enough, was rumored to have been selected by the real-life Carter to portray.
Suffice to say, both Cash and Carter couldn’t have known themselves any better, with both actors delivering award-worthy performances that won’t be forgotten come Oscar time. And yet, despite the out-of-the-park portrayal of the musician couple, you’d be hard-pressed to recommend this film to just anyone. This is the kind of material strictly manufactured for critical attention, and while it’ll likely be one of the best reviewed films of the year, it’s nothing that the average moviegoer couldn’t go without seeing. Then again, it’s hard to resist not enjoying a film about one of the most prolific musicians of our time, and if anything else, your trip to the movies will have you binging on Cash’s greatest hits through the end of the year.
Extended Cut DVD Review:
I’m not exactly sure why a third version of “Walk the Line” is being shuttled to DVD only two years after the film’s release, but Fox has been known for their excessive double-dipping in the past, and it doesn’t look like they plan on stopping any time soon. Featuring all of the material previously found in the collector’s edition (including the making-of featurette “Celebrating the Man in Black," as well as other featurettes like “Folsom: Cash & the Comeback” and “Ring of Fire: The Passion of Johnny & June”), the new two-disc set includes an extended cut of the film and a handful of new bonus material.
With 17 additional minutes of footage, “Walk the Line” doesn’t exactly play any better than before; it’s just longer. Coincidentally, writer/director James Mangold hasn’t recorded a new audio commentary for this version of the film (they’ve just recycled the one from 2005), and so any footage that wasn’t in the theatrical cut is without Mangold’s excellent commentary track. The inconsistencies don’t end there, either. While the collector’s edition included 3 extended musical sequences and 10 deleted scenes, this release features 8 extended musical sequences and only 2 deleted scenes. Of course, anyone that knows anything about DVD extras would gladly take more of the former in exchange for less of the latter, but why didn’t Fox just include everything? It's not like it wasn't already available.
As for the new material, well, it’s certainly not worth getting excited over. Two featurettes (“Sun Records & the Johnny Cash Sound” and “The Cash Legacy”) profile Cash’s success with interviews from various musicians, “Becoming Cash / Becoming Carter” takes a brief look at how Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon prepared for their roles, and “Cash and His Faith” discusses the Man in Black’s relationship with God. You could hardly describe these as must-have bonus features, and unless you’re dying to check out the new extended cut, you’d be better off hanging on to the copy you have.
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