WALK THE LINE Review

With the recent string of musician biographies coming out like Michael, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to go back and revisit another big named musician by the name of Johnny Cash with James Mangold's Walk the Line. Afterall, this was a critical and commercial success at the time, earning the film five Academy Award nominations and even became the highest-grossing music biopic until F Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton dethroned it. So, what did I think of it years later? Well...Walk the Line has some things going for it that do work, whether it's the performances or the technical work shown throughout the film. However, the film has a problem of following a "been there, done that" formula, ranging from Johnny's drug abuse, to his love affairs, or his reckless behavior, without exploring too much of what Johnny Cash had gone through.

The biopic follows Johnny Cash, who lives on a farm with his family, picking out in the field. As years pass by, he and his wife, Vivian, live in Memphis, Tennessee, where the ambitious man breaks out in the music scene after being discovered for his singing voice. During his tour, Johnny falls head over heels for country music singer, June Carter. As he attempts to woo her, his volatile lifestyle threatens to keep them from being together.

One of the more interesting aspects I noticed on this rewatch was how similar and different this was from James Mangold's other musician biopic, A Complete Unknown; another entry in the subgenre I remembered feeling mixed. Both are focusing on musicians who were discovered within the country music world, but at least the Bob Dylan biopic did make an effort for trying to not revert to so many cliches you'd usually witness. Now granted, a lot more musician biopics since Walk the Line came out have copied this formula, and even a year before this Taylor Hackford's Ray had similar tropes Walk the Line has within its structure. On its own, the film follows the same mistake a lot of musician biopics tend to follow: cramming in a lot of the person's life without diving deep into the material.

Had the film been more focused on a section of Johnny Cash's life rather than going through the events, I'd be more on board with the story. There's a lot of material one can cover on the man, especially with his "At Folsom Prison" album he recorded live in 1968. But Walk the Line doesn't have time to cover everything Johnny Cash went through, as it's sandwiching a lot of material from his tragic childhood to his drug addiction. Even if the film had just explored Johnny and June's work relationship would've been interesting on its own, as they have written songs together before they got married. One may have to use some dramatic licensing to create a film audiences like, but there's enough groundwork to turn it into a compelling narrative. As is, it comes up as a broader told story that's barely touching the surface level.

Now that's not to say there's nothing of value I got out of this, as the performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are pretty superb; both of whom got nominated for the Oscar but only Reese ended up becoming the film's sole win on the night. The actors do enough to make the audience buy into their romance, even if the script doesn't give them much to work with. I especially find their singing to be catchy to my ears, as I've been playing their versions of "I Walk the Line" and "Jukebox Blues" on my Spotify every so often.

Another aspect of the film that I do like is the technical work on display. The sound mix led by Academy Award-winning sound engineer, Paul Massey, does a great job balancing out the music, ambience, and audio tracks that makes the audience feel like they're on stage with the duo. Much like War Horse, this is a great pick to test out your special surround system. Even if the film's material can be repetitive, the film's pace moves enough to keep the story going, thanks to its Academy Award-winning film editor, Michael McCusker.

In a way, Walk the Line was a big turn for filmmaker, James Mangold, as he's since gone on to direct more interesting films; some of which had him reunite with Paul Massey and Michael McCusker, showcasing some of their best work whether it's in Logan or Ford v Ferrari. If anything, I am curious in checking out Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, as it's suppose to be a comedic parody on musician biopics that I've been told should've killed the subgenre. But Hollywood is still cranking out more biographies on music artists. And based on the new release of Michael, it looks like the musician biopic train is still chugging along. As for Walk the Line, it's a stepping stone for a filmmaker that would lead him to be a part of great things.

🍿 SCORE = 56/100