Walk the Line

Joining the crowd much sooner than usual (first-run movie house! only out a week!), last night we saw Walk the Line.

The verdict in the women's room was "Fabulous!" "Terrific!" "Wonderful!"

Uh, no.

Sorry, folks, but we're talking cheesy music bio-pic, yet again.

Scene 1: The screaming prisoners at Folsom are waiting for Johnny Cash to come on stage, but he sits in the workshop, fondling a table saw.

Scene 2: Johnny's brother reads the Bible while Johnny listens to June Carter on the radio.

Scene 3: Father is abusive.

Scene 4: Johnny and brother go fishing.

Scene 5: Brother slaving away at the table saw to earn a dollar tells Johnny to go fishing.

Connect the dots and tell me what happens next.

Of course, brother dies in table saw accident while Johnny fishes. Father blames Johnny for being alive. From there it's pretty much a straight line to picking at the buttons on the mattress during detox, with much repetition of the fishing motif throughout.

As S pointed out, the problem is that Johnny Cash's story is fundamentally cheesy: poor boy becomes big star, falls victim to drugs and hard living, gets saved by the love of a good woman. Which makes it hard to escape the cheesiness of bio-pic conventions.

But it is still a good movie. Not great, but good. Why?

Because it does its cheesy bio-pic-ness well.

Because even though you never quite forget that Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are themselves, they are both excellent (Joaquin is not quite believable in the 50s, but comes into his own in the 60s; Reese is superb throughout).

And finally, because the chemistry between Joaquin and Reese (Johnny and June, that is), particularly when they are on stage, is electric.

And if nothing else, we're all about music, romance, and movies.