Salocin

Walk The Line

Rumor has it that Joaquin Phoenix learned to sing and play the guitar in preparation for this part, that Reese Witherspoon learned to sing and play the auto-harp for her part, that both were chosen by the real Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash as the actors they wanted playing them on film, and that both underwent six months of vocal training so as to be able to carry off the musical portion of the role without dubbing.

It's hard to tell if this is what makes this biopic quite so compelling, or if the life and trials of Johnny Cash would have been as remarkable had these actors not put as much effort into finessing their performances. Regardless, the quality of their acting contributes to the high quality of this film and their committment to these roles pays off.

I have never been a Johnny Cash fan, and prior to this movie, I knew nothing about his life other than the period and country it was set in. The reality of Johnny Cash's life has therefore never really made it into my little world, or inspired me in the past. This film, however, is as poignant in the telling as the most carefully crafted fiction, and I think the actors deserve a large part of the credit for this. The director, cinematographer and other specialists who put together the look and feel of the film contributed a deft touch which allows us to easily suspend the real world for the duration of the experience. It is their skill and the quality of their finished product that has brought this story to my attention, and I'm quite grateful for that because it's definitely affected me in a way most movies don't.

From what little I've been able to glean about Johnny Cash in the short time I've spent researching him, (most notably from an interview at achievement.org), I note that his relationship from his father doesn't seem to be exactly the same when he talks about it as it is in the movie, but granting some artistic license to allow the filmmakers to make a point, the story remains inspirational, aspirational and emotional.

The film charts the rise of Johnny's career, up to the point where he marries June Carter. This journey is far from easy, and rather than showing us a hero overcoming one obstacle after another, the perspective given is far more human. With the kind of nochalant cruelty that only the real world can demonstrate, the various pressures faced by the singer mount, each culminating in turn and causing elements of his life to break down, often due to mistakes he himself makes as he learns how to cope with fame, solitude, and the ghosts of past mistakes. His recovery is all the most inspirational in that it is not a show of strength, or a heroic shouldering of burdens, but a personal transformation that comes only after having gone down a long dark tunnel and finally found a light at the end of it, sufficiently realistic and human to strike a chord.

Ultimately, Reese Witherspoon steals the film without seeming to do so - her performance seems sometimes self-effacing, as the camera turns to Joachim Phoenix's central character and exposes the peaks and troughs of those years. The troughs seem all the deeper, however, for the absence of Witherspoon's soothing June Carter. When she is around, and he is in her affections, however restrained, it is hard to believe that the worse could come to pass. Hers is a masterful performance that deserves recognition, perhaps even more so than Phoneix's brilliant central role.

The film grew on me over the two days after I had watched it, and I found myself thinking about it quite a lot - that's an unusual occurrence given that much of today's fare is the artistic equivalent of bread and water. I'm much better at making fun of movies I don't like than I am at giving credit to those that stand above the rest, which puts me in a difficult position here. I feel uncomfortable using superlatives to describe a film that achieves so much through deftness and understatement, so I'll say only this : While I will never be a huge fan of Johnny Cash's music (I've tried, I like it, but it's never going to be a staple of my collection), I think I've become a fan of the man, and I have this film to thank for that.