WALK THE LINE

Although this film only covers Johnny Cash’s life up to the late 1960s it still manages to include all the familiar tropes that we expect from a music biopic: the early struggle to break through, followed by meteoric success, a broken marriage, drugs and other temptations on the road.

The result is that I never got emotionally invested in the story.  In fact my favourite scene was a small and rather inconsequential one early on when Cash is auditioning to the legendary Sam Phillips (owner of Sun Records).

After that I was entertained OK but nothing more.  Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon do a fine job of imitating Cash and June Carter on stage but their relationship offstage, which is the main emotional focus of the film, never achieved lift-off for me. 

Ultimately I didn’t buy Phoenix as Cash, nor did I find him particularly engaging.  I would guess that the real Johnny Cash had presence and charm to spare but that didn’t come across to me from this portrayal. 

RATING: x Find Something Better To Do