UNSTRUNG HEROES : James Mangold’s ‘Walk the Line’ [5/10]

Published on: February 11th, 2006

Shepard Fairey's poster for Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line has been rightly acclaimed as one of the finest the medium has produced for several years. Bold, audacious, original, memorable… if only the graphic artist – previously best known for his ubiquitous 'Andre the Giant' stickers – had also been asked to direct the movie. He could hardly have done a more uninspired job than Mangold – whose last picture was, let's not forget, the laughable 'thriller' Identity.

As if keen to distance himself from that whodunnit's campily enjoyable ludicrousness, Mangold opts for the safest of safe-hands modes here – which is exactly what a movie about Johnny Cash doesn't need. As a result, this Walk turns out to be a very pedestrian plod through the decades, from a childhood trauma in 1944 (where the junior Cash is played by Ridge Canipe, a child-actor with a noticeable overbite), through his rise to fame via country music in the the 1950s and 1960s, to his legendary Folsom Prison concert, closing with his on-stage proposal to his life-long sweetheart June Carter (Reese Witherspoon).

It's all very respectful, by-the-numbers Hollywood biopic stuff – but, as an unimpressed Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts) drily remarks when Cash and his band turn up for an audition at his recording studio and churn out a lukewarm gospel number, we've "heard this song a hundred times before." Cash was, of course, able to 'change his tune' on the spot, dazzling Phillips and kick-starting his rise to fame. Mangold, however, is content to play the same old song in the same old way.

If nothing else, he should be ashamed that a picture about Johnny Cash (of all people), a picture theoretically made by and for adults, should be passed as suitable for 12-year-olds by the British censors (the BBFC) as it only contains "one use of strong language and drugs use" (the US equivalent, the MPAA, passed it as a PG-13.) What 12-year-old would even want to see this film? Presumably the Hollywood bigwigs were keen to draw in that lucrative early-teen demographic – even if it meant alienating the natural audience, namely grown-up Cash fans and non-aficionados intrigued by his turbulent, uncompromisingly tough life-story.

Another major problem is the presence of Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role – selected, so we're told, by Cash himself shortly before his death in 2003. Phoenix is 5'8", a full six inches shorter than Cash's 6'2". Phoenix is a strutting, overcompensating bantam; Cash was, for most of his life, an intimidating brick shithouse of a man who looked and acted as though he might have done time in Folsom Prison. Phoenix visibly works hard throughout, and deserves credit for performing the songs 'live' (although they do look at least lip-synched). But he never seems to get the voice quite right, especially when Cash is off-stage, and on the whole this is much too strenuous an effort to really convince. That said, it's not easy to come up alternative casting: Michael Madsen? Gary Stretch? Matt Schulze?!

Only a fool would wish to discard Witherspoon, however: though perhaps a little fuller-faced than the real June Carter Cash, she brings much-needed energy and humour to what is otherwise a rather dour slog of a movie – the ungainly, episodic screenplay (written by Mangold and Gill Dennis) might have benefitted if June had been given more to do, or even become the main focus. As it is, she only really comes into focus in the picture's second half, when Cash eventually splits from his long-suffering nag of a wife (Ginnifer Goodwin).

A greater emphasis on June would also have meant more exposure for Colorado theatre veteran Sandra Ellis Lafferty, who works naturalistic wonders with her frustratingly brief seconds of screen time as Carter's mother Maybelle. In interview, Lafferty has revealed that "there were some scenes with me in it that were cut out of the movie that I wish were in it." Yep, she's not alone on that score…

Neil Young
12th/13th January, 2005

WALK THE LINE : [5/10] : USA 2005 : James MANGOLD : 124 mins* (BBFC timing)
seen at Cineworld cinema, Boldon, North Tyneside (UK), 8th February 2006 – public show

* two versions have been certificated by the BBFC: 124m and 135m. Unclear which was shown at this screening – certainly felt like the longer, though it seems in fact this was not the case.