The Bottom Line
What the movie had to leave out in order to focus on the love story, "Walk the Line" more than made up for with terrific musical numbers.
Pros
- Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix are brilliant
- Even people who aren't fans of Johnny Cash should enjoy the musical performances
Cons
- Barely any bonus features
Description
- Commentary by co-writer/director James Mangold
- 10 deleted scenes with optional commmentary
- DVD Release Date: February 28, 2006
Guide Review - Walk the Line" DVD Review
"Walk the Line" is director James Mangold's passion project. Mangold spent as much time as possible with Johnny Cash and got to know the man before trying to put his story on film. The result is a movie which goes deeper than the average biopic.Joaquin Phoenix gives a convincing performance as the Man in Black - Johnny Cash. The story follows Johnny's tragic loss of his brother, fast-forwards to the early years of his marriage to Vivian Cash, and then really hits its stride as it explores Johnny Cash's rise to fame. But this movie doesn't settle for focusing on the man's legendary music career. Instead writer/director Mangold and co-writer Gill Dennis chose to focus on Johnny Cash's intense love for fellow singer June Carter Cash.
"Walk the Line" provides a behind the scenes look at what made Johnny Cash tick. The actors involved in the film - including Phoenix and Witherspoon - perform their own musical numbers, which has its good and bad points. While the voices don't match the people they're portraying, at least the performances come off as authentic-looking in the film because of the direction Mangold took.
If you're looking for bonus features, skip the basic "Walk the Line" DVD. There's not much there in the way of bonus features. However there is a special 2-disc collector's edition that apparently has loads of extras (but that wasn't provided for review purposes).
