Johnny Cash is a musical legend. Granted that I'm not a big fan and don't own any of his albums on CD, but he is iconic
like Bob Dylan, Elvis, The Beatles, and The Doors. WALK THE LINE chronicles the rise of Johnny Cash, the problems he had on
the way and his relationship with June Carter. WALK THE LINE is an emotional journey for Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) who
loses his way on the way to hooking up with the greatest love of his live, June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). Johnny Cash always
wanted to be a musician, but the need to be who he is torn apart by the expectations of everyone else. Joaquin and Reese also
did their own singing for this film and it is impressive enough compared to the grand performances they give for this movie.
Reese gives the best acting of her career while Joaquin continues to hit it out of the ball park with each film. No one else
could have played these two like they did. WALK THE LINE shows a very human man with an imperfect life. It is an understatement
to say this is one of the best bio pics out there. I really cared for Johnny and June in WALK THE LINE. Their story was ready
for Hollywood.
VIDEO: 1.33:1 (Full Frame)
Since I was never sent a DVD to review, I borrowed a copy from a friend. Man, how I hate Pan and Scan version of movies.
WALK THE LINE should be seen in 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen). Full Frame DVDs mean you lose some of the picture the director
shot and sometimes the image quality isn't as good on the DVD.
AUDIO: English 5.1 Dolby Surround, English 5.1 DTS, Spanish DS, French DS
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Dialogue and music comes through clearly. The DVD even has a DTS track for DTS lovers.
SPECIAL FEATURES: About 24 minutes of deleted scenes (with optional audio commentary from the director) are included. Most
of them are interesting and add a little bit of back story that were cut of the film to focus on the emotional story between
Johnny and June. The audio commentary for the film by co-writer/director James Mangold gives a little production insight,
but he is more interested in talking about Johnny Cash and the script. It is an OK commentary, but I found myself skipping
around to listen to the odd bit. Also included on the DVD are the original theatrical trailer and soundtrack promo spot. The
two disc special edition has more extras.
FINAL ANALYSIS: WALK THE LINE is an interesting bio pic with great performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.
Even if you're not a fan of Johnny Cash, this film is worth checking out on DVD.
this review is (c)5-10-2006 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission (except for excerpts and a link
to the review). Look for additional content at http://enterlinemedia.livejournal.com and send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
