Another Movie Review

I have been on a bit of a Johhny Cash kick lately, so this week I rented Walk the Line.

I've been meaning to watch this for a while, but I got waylaid by 4 seasons of the Jack Bauer Show. This is not the type of movie I would normally see - It's not funny, has no good action, no violence, no thrilling suspense or mystery, no gratuitous nudity, etc..... It's just a story about a man's life. But it is an excellent, compelling, and interesting story.

I am not a Johnny Cash expert, so I had the good fortune of being able to watch the movie without worrying about things like accuracy, but as near as I could tell it was pretty close. I was glad to see that the film did not really glorify or gloss over the many mistakes and bad choices he made throughout his life.

As far as the acting goes, Reese Witherspoon was outstanding and her singing was very, very good. Joaquin Pheonix acting as Johnny Cash was very good as well. Mr. Pheonix's singing was adequate. He is certainly no Johnny Cash, but then who is? At the beginning of the movie it was pretty bad, but I think that was intentional as he was trying to portray Johnny as a little unsure of himself. As the movie went on, it definitely improved - although Joaquin does NOT have the low range that Mr. Cash has (the low notes in "Folsom Prison Blues" were a little painful to listen to).

The rest of the acting was adequate, but forgettable. The guys playing Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis were pretty weak, but they were bit parts that were not very important to the story.

Overall, it was a pretty good movie. Not one that I will run out and buy, Although it did make me want to run out and buy a copy of the Folsom Prison Recording.

On my Homer Simpson rating scale, I give it one small "woohoo"