Walk The Line
A couple of years ago I watched a PBS American Masters show called "Sun Records" or something like that, a documentary of Sun Records, in Tenn, who signed some legends like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. They signed some great artists but the 2 hour show was more about some of the coulda-been performers. It was great.
Anyway, one of the artists in that time period and out of that studio was Johnny Cash. Ever since I heard Third Eye Blind do a remake of Cash's Cry Cry Cry, I was kind of interested in Johnny Cash. I never listened to him growing up but knew who he was, man in black and all that stuff.
So Saturday night Patti and I watched Walk The Line, a movie staring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter. Couple of thoughts.
- Very good movie. I love movies that are based on history (JFK, Malcom X), love musicals (The Commitments) and like that style of music. So it was a really fun movie to watch. It kind of gets uncomfortable with Cash's drug use, and Joaquin Phoenix is a little creepy anyway, but good movie. Unfortunately I can't say it was great. Something missing. I can't really put my finger on it, but I didn't think it was detailed enough.
- Phoenix and Witherspoon were up for Oscars for best performance. Phoenix didn't win and Resse Witherspoon did win. You can tell why she won. It was unbelievable how great she was in this movie. I usually can't stand her, she is just Drew Barrymore without a speech problem, but she was great in this. Phoenix was ok but not Oscar worthy. She was. Watch it just for her. Both do their own singing.
- There are other great, smaller characters in this that make it fun to watch. The guy who runs the studio is from The L Word. James Keach has a small part. The guy from Terminator Two is in it. Even the guys who play backup for Cash, and the actors who play Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis were fun to watch.
- Here is the strangest part. Cash first became known for a song called Cry Cry Cry. They mention it in the movie but for some reason they never played it in the movie. They didn't even play it at the end when the credits were rolling. I don't get it. Weird.
So there is my take on a movie I saw this weekend. Up next, a review of Stephen Wright's first TV special in 16 years.