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 Walk the Line 

What grade would you give this film?
A 51%  51%  [ 25 ]
B 37%  37%  [ 18 ]
C 10%  10%  [ 5 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 49

 Walk the Line 
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College Boy Z

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Walk the Line was a good film. Although it doesn't deserve the Best Picture win (IMO, and it won't get it, anyways), I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did, considering that I'm not a Johnny Cash fan at all. In comparison to Ray, it's superior in quality, but performance-wise, I was still far more impressed by Jamie Foxx's performance as Ray Charles. Perhaps it's because I knew more about Ray Charles than Johnny Cash, and I could tell that Foxx played Charles like he was Ray Charles, while I'm not so sure about Joaquin Phoenix. It was still an impressive performance, though it was easily overshadowed by Reese Witherspoon's fantastic performance as June Carter. She deserves the Oscar win, definitely.

Aside from the strength in performances, character development was also strong. The audience gets a good sense of Cash being lost and confused. To add on to the acting, even though I don't know Cash that well, the performances of the two seemed so real, as well as the singing. The chemistry between Phoenix and Witherspoon was absolutely perfect. Wasn't too impressed with Robert Patrick as Cash's father, though.

I'll admit, though, while it was "good," I didn't have a great time watching it, simply because I'm not familiar with the material. I guess now I do know a lot more about Johnny Cash's life (assuming it's mostly accurate), but frankly, this was something I could have avoided seeing in theaters. In addition, I pretty much despise country music. The film never really took off for me.

In conclusion, Walk the Line was a decent movie, but I could have lived without using my free movie pass on this one.

B-


Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:21 am
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Zingaling wrote:
Walk the Line was a good film. Although it doesn't deserve the Best Picture win (IMO, and it won't get it, anyways), I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did, considering that I'm not a Johnny Cash fan at all. In comparison to Ray, it's superior in quality, but performance-wise, I was still far more impressed by Jamie Foxx's performance as Ray Charles. Perhaps it's because I knew more about Ray Charles than Johnny Cash, and I could tell that Foxx played Charles like he was Ray Charles, while I'm not so sure about Joaquin Phoenix. It was still an impressive performance, though it was easily overshadowed by Reese Witherspoon's fantastic performance as June Carter. She deserves the Oscar win, definitely.

Aside from the strength in performances, character development was also strong. The audience gets a good sense of Cash being lost and confused. To add on to the acting, even though I don't know Cash that well, the performances of the two seemed so real, as well as the singing. The chemistry between Phoenix and Witherspoon was absolutely perfect. Wasn't too impressed with Robert Patrick as Cash's father, though.

I'll admit, though, while it was "good," I didn't have a great time watching it, simply because I'm not familiar with the material. I guess now I do know a lot more about Johnny Cash's life (assuming it's mostly accurate), but frankly, this was something I could have avoided seeing in theaters. In addition, I pretty much despise country music. The film never really took off for me.

In conclusion, Walk the Line was a decent movie, but I could have lived without using my free movie pass on this one.

B-


I bolded the above so Mav will have an easy time finding.

Not sure why you don't think that he was playing JC well > the way that he started, spoke his name, aim his guitar like a gun, swung his guitar over his back, the singing voice and mannerisms, etc.

I think it seemed like a great portayal.

but I will defer to Mav's opinion.


Sun Dec 18, 2005 3:39 am
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Zingaling wrote:
Walk the Line was a good film. Although it doesn't deserve the Best Picture win (IMO, and it won't get it, anyways), I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did, considering that I'm not a Johnny Cash fan at all. In comparison to Ray, it's superior in quality, but performance-wise, I was still far more impressed by Jamie Foxx's performance as Ray Charles. Perhaps it's because I knew more about Ray Charles than Johnny Cash, and I could tell that Foxx played Charles like he was Ray Charles, while I'm not so sure about Joaquin Phoenix. It was still an impressive performance, though it was easily overshadowed by Reese Witherspoon's fantastic performance as June Carter. She deserves the Oscar win, definitely.

Aside from the strength in performances, character development was also strong. The audience gets a good sense of Cash being lost and confused. To add on to the acting, even though I don't know Cash that well, the performances of the two seemed so real, as well as the singing. The chemistry between Phoenix and Witherspoon was absolutely perfect. Wasn't too impressed with Robert Patrick as Cash's father, though.

I'll admit, though, while it was "good," I didn't have a great time watching it, simply because I'm not familiar with the material. I guess now I do know a lot more about Johnny Cash's life (assuming it's mostly accurate), but frankly, this was something I could have avoided seeing in theaters. In addition, I pretty much despise country music. The film never really took off for me.

In conclusion, Walk the Line was a decent movie, but I could have lived without using my free movie pass on this one.

B-


To classify Cash as merely a country singer is not very accurate, if anything I thought the film did a good job of showing that as his songs vertianly had a rock feel.

I hate country music, but I've always liked Johnny Cash.

I agree, I don;t think it deserves to win best picture.


Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:46 am
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Ripper wrote:
I disagree witht he portrayal of Vivian, I didn;t think she was some evil villian, maybe I just empathized with her situation, but she spent most of her life waiting around for Cash. I think the final scene between them when you see her crying, it did alot ot show that her anger and demans towards him wer eout of frustration and she did care about him.

Overall a good film, but it was one of those films where I enjoyed the performances more then the film. I thought Witherspoon was perfect, even better then I thought she was, and Phoenix was excellent,t hat scene at the end when he tells them him plans to play at Folsom...it was like Phoenix was Cash.

B+


I definitely agree with the sour portrayl of Vivian, I can understand why their daughter got upset over it. The movie needed a little more work in that department.

I'm really glad you saw it, Zingy, and are able to appreciate it.


Sun Dec 18, 2005 11:48 am
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Goldie wrote:
I bolded the above so Mav will have an easy time finding.

Not sure why you don't think that he was playing JC well > the way that he started, spoke his name, aim his guitar like a gun, swung his guitar over his back, the singing voice and mannerisms, etc.

I think it seemed like a great portayal.

but I will defer to Mav's opinion.


But, Goldie, I said in the "review" that I had no prior knowledge of Johnny Cash, so I have no idea how well he played Johnny Cash or not.


Sun Dec 18, 2005 12:04 pm
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Zingaling wrote:
Goldie wrote:
I bolded the above so Mav will have an easy time finding.

Not sure why you don't think that he was playing JC well > the way that he started, spoke his name, aim his guitar like a gun, swung his guitar over his back, the singing voice and mannerisms, etc.

I think it seemed like a great portayal.

but I will defer to Mav's opinion.


But, Goldie, I said in the "review" that I had no prior knowledge of Johnny Cash, so I have no idea how well he played Johnny Cash or not.


OK.


Sun Dec 18, 2005 12:14 pm
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Ripper wrote:
I hate country music, but I've always liked Johnny Cash.


Thought I'd quote that, since that's how I feel. No real reason for quoting, though. :smile:

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Sun Dec 18, 2005 12:18 pm
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Mr. X wrote:
Ripper wrote:
I hate country music, but I've always liked Johnny Cash.


Thought I'd quote that, since that's how I feel. No real reason for quoting, though. :smile:


Becauseeeeee you'reeee mineeeeee, I walkkkkkkk the lineeeeeee.

<3.

Johnny Cash!


Sun Dec 18, 2005 12:22 pm
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It was good but not great, the performances make the movie.

8/10 (B+)

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Sun Dec 18, 2005 12:44 pm
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Mr. X wrote:
Ripper wrote:
I hate country music, but I've always liked Johnny Cash.


Thought I'd quote that, since that's how I feel. No real reason for quoting, though. :smile:


How can anyone not like Johnny Cash? They'd be crazy, so for now you coo'

I was really impressed with the singing in the film, I was tempted to buy the soundtrack.


Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:34 pm
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Glad you didn't hate it, Zingy, and Phoenix did a great job capturing Johnny Cash, so I hope that helps. Now if I could figure out a way to get Libs to write me a mini review...


Mon Dec 19, 2005 12:46 am
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B


I finally saw it a couple of weeks ago. I pretty much agree with the general openion here. Walk the Line, Johnny Cash's official biopic, was a good, well-crafted, but not great movie. I can see why it was nominated for Best Picture and frankly I am happy that it wasn't. Then again, I did find that it was slightly superior to Ray and if it had been nominated, I wouldn't have been as upset about it as I was over Ray's nomination.

What carries the movie completely is its cast. By that I don't just mean the two leads, but also the great supporting performances by Robert Patrick, Ginnifer Goodwinn and Waylon Payne (as Jerry Lee Lewis, in his short but impressive performance). It did have one of last year's finest casts. Joaquin Phoenix captured Johnny Cash well, from what I know about him. He delivered a good performance, but I have seen a lot of better male lead performances last year too. It was a strong year for male leads. Reese Witherspoon was great and certainly worthy of an Oscar nomination, but I am not sure how worthy she is of a win. Now I have only seen one other Best Actress nominee performance (Charlize Theron), but Witherspoon just didn't strike me as one of those really great turns. I also felt that while she was really good, Joaquin Phoenix was at least just as good as she was, so I think it's a bit unfair that she gets all the praise because they're equally deserving. I would say, though, that last year's performance by Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles easily overshadowed both of them.

The best thing about the movie was the chemistry between the two leads. It was just perfect and was probably the best couple chemistry I have witnessed in all 2005. Their chemistry carries the movie. Moreover, unlike Ray, the movie is rather well-paced and knows not to bore its viewer. Its running time is pretty much right on, not too short and not too long. Ray was way too overlong for its own good and ended up being somewhat tedious.

However, while a good biopic, Walk the Line is by far not flawless. I just thought it was rather clichéd at times, especially with the whole drug issue being connected to Cash's trauma of his brother's death in the childhood. It jsut seemed so...obligatory in this film. Wasn't a big fan of that. Moreover, I thought that the music scenes, while well-made, were not as good and vividly put in scene as in Ray.

All in all, Walk the Line is a good biopic with great performances, but there is simply nothing very memorable or excellent about it...at all. It was pretty much exactly how I expected it to be.

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IMO, the reason that Reese W made this movie is that she carried Joaquin Phoenix in a good number of their scenes > either JP was too shy, embarassed, drunk, drugged up and Reese was amazing in those scenes with the way she handled, told off, controlled etc Johnny Cash / JP.


Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:31 am
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I thought Reese absolutely stole the movie, and I have not seen a better female performance this year. I don't normally like Reese Witherspoon, or by-the-numbers biopics, so she really must have been something special.

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Still waiting on Libs' review... :whistle:


Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:33 am
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yoshue wrote:
I thought Reese absolutely stole the movie, and I have not seen a better female performance this year. I don't normally like Reese Witherspoon, or by-the-numbers biopics, so she really must have been something special.


glad others saw the major brillance of Reese's performance.


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A-. Reese owned this movie. I found Joaqin to be quite weak. The Vivian story needed work.

Overall, a great film.


Tue Feb 14, 2006 5:24 pm
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Wasn't impressed by this movie. Both Ray and The Aviator were much better movies and this was meh in comparison. Thought Joaquin and Reese's performances were competent without being great. The direction and script was very weak, as anything even remotely compelling felt more artificial than real. I'd have to admit that the ending was very good though. I give it a C.


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I don't think i can add anythig that hasn't already been said, thoroughly enjoyed this film. A-

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Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:06 pm
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While the film's plot is highly conventional, the two lead performances are so outstanding as to warrant a positive grade for this film. What struck me, somewhat halfway through the film, is how easy a time I had accepting them as real people, something which happens quite rarely. I think the reason for Witherspoon's and Phoenix's success is that both are faithful to the spirit of what draws them together, that is, love. Music is rarely if ever just about the music; if it was, it wouldn't be worth composing or listening to. The film's most touching parts are those that associate music with love. There is that wonderful look on Cash's face as he looks at June for the first time before getting on the stage. His joy- we feel- is as much a result of seeing this girl as it is of starting his career. Then there is the ending, where everything comes together where it must- on the stage.

I think the ending is wonderful. Yes, the proposal is before an audience, but it's not in Madison Square Garden, it's not a large crowd, and it's not spoken in high-flown language but in simple speech. Above all, it's represented as not the end, or a beginning, but as part of a process. And that is precisely the case. The stage is fluid; each act gives way to another, and each act gives up one stage for another, in another city, even another country. So too with the proposal scene. In time, it will give way to other episodes in the lives of those two people: marriage, the birth of their children, happy times, maybe some fallouts and reconciliations here and there and everywhere. And at each and every one of those moments, there will still be music left to write and sing. If music is inspired by life, then what a splendid symphony Cash and Carter have composed!

The best moment of the film isn't really part of the film proper. When the screen fades to black, we read "June passed in 2003". Then: "Four months later, John followed". When you've finished the song, you gotta leave the stage. When it's a duet, you gotta leave together.



B+

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Good movie, easy to watch, with very good performances all the way around. My only complaint was that it was too similar to Ray - first comes the rough upbringing, then the rise to fame and fortune mixed in with drugs, womanizing, and relationship problems, and ultimately straightens up in the end. The thing was, I liked Ray better as I like his music more and Foxx's performace slightly better than Phoenix's. I also was much more shocked about the stuff I saw in Ray then I was at Cash - I kind of guessed Cash was a bad boy and a little messed up, whereas I never would have guessed this from Ray Charles.

Again, it wasn't bad, it just seemed like this was a repeat of something I saw last year - just in a different color. Next year perhaps we'll get the same story starring a Latino singer.

7.5 out of 10 (B)

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Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:39 am
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I think it's a fantastic film.

It does occasionally succumb to biopic conventions: overwrought drug episodes, performances of songs that MUST mirror the current state of the subject's life, and occasional moments where it felt like they were just barely scratching the surface of what was being depicted - largely dealing with Johnny and June's relationship. But it really never feels as episodic as, say, Ray did.

I do think Phoenix should be praised for his performance scenes, but honestly, I wasn't too impressed by his dramatic scenes. Lots of drunken stumbling didn't really do much for me, and I almost found it hard to root for him in the end.

Witherspoon, though, made the film for me. Although I'd be maybe a little uneasy giving her the Oscar for what is somewhat of a supporting role (not in screen time, but this is a film about Johnny Cash, after all) and the fact that she WILL get a role in the future that's largely hers that she'll be able to knock out of the park, I do think she deserves the praise. She even manages to be somewhat subtle in her role.

And I loved the final scene.

A-


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BJs Grade:

A

Wow, outstanding watch. Reese = 100% awesome, she was better than I could have ever expected, WOW. :happy: Phoenix was great as well, deffinately a well deserved best male performance nom :smile: Oustandingly acted film, I cant wait to watch it again :biggrin:

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Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:20 am
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An enjoyable, if somewhat unexciting, biopic of the Man in Black. Great performances fromt the two leads, and the musical numbers are stand-outs.

B+


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TonyMontana wrote:
Next year perhaps we'll get the same story starring a Latino singer.



Selena.


Oh wait...

Fat Joe

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