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Walk The Line
DVD Review by Alan Green

"Walk The Line" follows Johnny Cash through the beginning of his career, his downfall as a result of drug addiction, and his recovery with the help June Carter. We are introduced to the twelve year old Johnny and his fourteen year old brother, Jack, and through well crafted dialogue become quickly acquainted with them. With an adroit 'tension verite' that keeps you on the edge more effectively than most horror movies, director James Mangold makes it clear that tragedy is around the corner, and only minutes into the movie Jack is killed by falling onto a buzz saw while cutting fence posts. With this opening sequence it's difficult not to accept Mangold's challenge and become engrossed in a compelling story of a man's struggle to overcome common difficulties.

"Walk The Line" is a movie about subtlety. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon inhabit the characters of Johnny Cash and June Carter with such effortlessness and bring this story to life so convincingly and with such natural energy, that it almost makes one feel guilty--as if it wasn't a movie we were watching, but the real events as they actually happened. This is a movie about the details of everyday life that, although sometimes mundane, are powerful when lived through and could not be made up by any screenwriter.

Johnny Cash said that it was probably his brother's death that made most of his music so brooding, and after seeing this event recreated by Mr. Mangold the viewer understands Cash's music and readily accepts his volatile personality. This backstory draws us in so completely we feel as if we're Cash's best friend, standing just off camera, ready to step up and offer guidance or condolence.

We come to know Cash so well that by the time he starts taking uppers (and downers) in order to cope with the stresses of road touring, we not only understand why he does it, we can't find fault with it as we ourselves seek respite from what seems to be our own experience. I've never seen a movie that was as capable of conveying what it is to travel across the country giving concerts in different cities every night. The banter between Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne), and Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) while driving endless miles through the night is as real as any, and the rhythm of their dialogue is beautifully crafted by co-writers Gill Dennis and James Mangold.

Cash meets June Carter on one of these road trips and begins to court her almost immediately. Their relationship plays with a fluid realism in which conversation is not too polished and doesn't end with sitcom tags. Both Phoenix and Witherspoon are convincing as real people who can say dumb things, become angry in subtle ways, and express love for each other with simple gestures. Cash asks Carter many times to marry him and she declines. After years of trying we are just as frustrated as he is, but nothing prepares us for the jaw-dropping onstage proposal Cash hefts onto poor June during a live concert in Ontario in 1968. Yet, when she says yes it's as perfect a thing as could be hoped for.

Like Cash's music the energy of "Walk The Line" builds like the growing pulses of an oncoming train and has such a veracity, it draws you in completely until you forget you are watching a movie. This isn't a flashy story, but real life hardly ever is. The vocal performances by Phoenix and Witherspoon are to be admired. James Mangold's camera and editing choices are natural, flowing, clean and non-technical, and compliment the story well. What "Walk The Line" has is an absolute authenticity that makes it easy to watch, believable, and easy to enjoy.

Walk The Line
Directed by James Mangold; written by Mr. Mangold and Gill Dennis; director of photography, Phedon Papamichael; edited by Michael McCusker; production designer, David J. Bomba; produced by Cathy Konrad and James Keach; released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Running time: 138 minutes.

WITH: Joaquin Phoenix (Johnny Cash), Reese Witherspoon (June Carter), Ginnifer Goodwin (Vivian Loberto), Robert Patrick (Ray Cash), Dallas Roberts (Sam Phillips), Dan John Miller (Luther Perkins), Larry Bagby (Marshall Grant), Shelby Lynne (Carrie Cash), Tyler Hilton (Elvis Presley), Waylon Malloy Payne (Jerry Lee Lewis), Shooter Jennings (Waylon Jennings), Johnathan Rice (Roy Orbison) and Lucas Till (Jack Cash).

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