Review: "Walk the Line" more than biography

The Man in Black returns to the stage this Friday with his deep voice and heart-wrenching story in the new movie "Walk the Line."

The life story of Johnny Cash, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter, is a tall order. Cash suffered deeply in his life. The child of poor Southern farmers, he struggled to gain respect from his father. As a successful music star, Cash grappled with drug and alcohol addictions.

Though the dark, troubled artist has almost become a stock character in Hollywood, Phoenix delivers the Man in Black well. Cash's voice, clear as a bird and strong as a steamroller, is captured perfectly by Phoenix. Without the admission that Phoenix and Witherspoon do all of the singing in the movie themselves, one would swear they are lip-syncing with old Cash recordings.

The real success story in this movie is Reese Witherspoon. Though Witherspoon confessed in a recent interview that she was never very comfortable with the character of June Carter, her portrayal of Carter doesn't show it. With the clear voice of a country music darling, Witherspoon embraces the sassy nature that characterized much of Carter's real-life performances.

"Walk the Line" is arguably more the story of the tumultuous love between Cash and Carter than just a biography of Cash. The chemistry between Phoenix and Witherspoon is engaging. Though the other performances in this movie are forgettable, these two both deliver Oscar-worthy efforts.

Their portrayal of the love story also touched the real life story of Cash and Carter. Cash and Carter did not admit being physical with each other before marriage until the making of Walk the Line. Witherspoon explained, "Finally, [Director James Mangold] just told them he couldn't make the movie and make it convincing if he tried to maintain that fiction, because the truth was, what they had done weighed heavily on them; it affected how they lived. Ultimately, they said OK, but it was hard for them."

Mangold succeeds in this movie through never allowing the acting to outshine Cash's songs. The actors reenact the story of Cash's life with memorable detail, but it is Cash's own songs that actually tell the pain and emotion of the story. Cash's music remains prominent in the collective memory of country music and, rightfully, in the movie of Cash's life. "Walk the Line" is well worth a trip to the theater this weekend.

Galen Wenger is in Washington D.C. with the Washington Community Scholars Center and was able to attend an advance screening of "Walk the Line" in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox and Grace Hill Media.