movie of the day: Walk the Line (2005)

let's get one thing out of the way, before we start this review.

i love Johnny Cash.

Johnny Cash, to me, was an American icon whose songs transcended labels. most people think of him as a "country singer" but to call Cash a country singer is to downplay how influential he was on country, folk and rock 'n' roll.

now that we've dealt with the accolades, let's talk about Jame's Mangold homage to Cash--Walk the Line. if i wanted to sum it up in one sentence, this would suffice:

it's Ray with white people.

now i don't mean to discount Cash's life story, but the when it comes down to it, the "rock star" story has become an American cliche. we see the star make it, we see the star get addicted to drugs (Ray Charles liked heroin, Cash loved speed), we see the star clean up. we see the star fight with record label execs and show that their artistic intention is much more successful than what those stupid execs would have wanted to happen. we see how their personal tragedy helps mold them as individuals (here's another place where the two movies are eerily similar--both had dead brothers that they blamed themselves for.) and when the similarities are that great, you have to ask "what is the point?"

sure there are things about Walk the Line that we don't see in Ray--namely the relationship between Cash and June Carter, the love of his life. but in the process we also see how Cash neglects his first wife and children in the process--something that i didn't know how quite to take other than to question why June Carter would hook up with Johnny after seeing him do that to someone else.

in the end, the movie is good, it has great performances (especially from Reese Witherspoon, who seems to excel in every role she plays) and is probably worth your time. but i don't know how many more of these rock 'n' roll legend biopics i can take. Four Stars (out of Five)