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Walk the Line is a "biopic"—a life story on film—of legendary singer Johnny Cash. It traces the singer's struggle
from the time he felt rejection as a child in Arkansas, through his troubled marriage and career, and on to eventual redemption.
He witnesses the death of his brother and is blamed by his hard-drinking father for it. Having been a fan of country music, Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) writes his first song in Germany while serving in the Air Force. Like all young men of his time, he marries a pretty girl and tries to find a regular job but can't let go of his dream to be a recording artist. He finally hits it big and is able to comfortably support his family but for his wife Vivien (Ginnifer Goodwin) material comforts are never enough: she wants him. But he wants sympathy and understanding, which he finds in fellow singer June Carter (Reese Witherspoon).
Although we know that Hollywood brims over with multi-talented performers (remember award-winning Chicago's
Richard Gere, Catherine Zeta-Jones and company?), we are still impressed that two accomplished actors—Phoenix and Witherspoon—do their own vocals to lend life and authenticity to their roles. Being a biopic it attempts to remain faithful to singer Cash's real life story while understandably fictionalizing, and because the story is about singers—and legendary singers, at that—it offers a lot of great music besides.
Biopics appeal to movie goers primarily because of their true-to-life flavor. Because they give a peep into the real
score behind the glamorous images, they can serve as good vehicles for teaching life's lessons while entertaining the "pupils". Walk the Line
shows the typical story arc of many showbiz personalities' struggle from obscurity to stardom, and the many glories and the pathos that come in between. Viewers—especially young adults with ambitions of becoming stars someday—would do well to discern in Walk the Line the process of malformation and eventual transformation that takes place in a human being subjected to childhood trauma. See how unprocessed hurts deform the soul and lead to ruin and then watch closely what saves it from total wreck.
(Date Reviewed: 03 February 2006)
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