The life and times of Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) from his humble beginnings, to his marriage to needy first wife Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), to his ongoing feuds with his bitter father Ray (Robert Patrick), to his battles with drug addiction, to his tumultuous decades-long love affair with fellow Country Music sensation June Carter (Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon).

CRITIQUE

I hadn’t seen James Mangold’s Walk the Line in its entirety since I originally reviewed it back in November of 2005. After receiving this new Blu-ray of the film I can’t really say my opinion has changed very much over the last four-plus years. Handsomely mounted, nicely acted by all and confidently directed, the movie is a pleasing biography hard to quibble with, the film as easygoing and as melodically enjoyable as the majority of Johnny Cash’s music.

But it is missing that hard edge that made the man an icon. It also never goes that far beyond the predictable, much of the melodrama of the type we’ve seen countless times before in biopic after biopic after biopic. This is a good movie that never crosses into the land of great, and while that’s certainly not a bad thing it is still a thing I feel definitely needs to be pointed out.

Otherwise I have very little else to say other to excerpt from my own theatrical review:

“Coming just a year after Taylor Hackford’s Ray, comparisons between this and that Oscar-winning Jamie Foxx biopic are inevitable. On most levels, those comparisons are unfair. These are entirely different animals, Mangold’s direction far more intimate and mangy then Hackford’s glossy old-Hollywood style. But, be that as it may, none of this changes the fact both films are musical biographies of two of the most influential and important musical icons of the last century. 

But whereas with Ray I was able to forgive the script’s unoriginality and Hackford’s slick stylings (thanks in large part to Foxx’s brilliance in the title role), I can’t help but feel a little bit under whelmed this time out. Mangold and Gil Dennis’ (Riders of the Purple Sage) script flips through time and space far too quickly, many stretches so choppy that just at the point I was starting to feel something passionate the two would flip the scene any emotional resonance was unceremoniously shattered.

Still, Walk the Line is a stirring and remarkably well made biography most of the way through. Scenes of Cash traveling cross-country with the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis (Wallon Malloy Payne), Waylen Jennings (played zestfully by his son Shooter Jennings), Roy Orbison (Jonathan Rice), Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and – of course – June Carter are splendid. I was also quite taken with the early flashback sequences, a young Cash (Ridge Canipe) joyfully racing across the dusty backroads of Arkansas with his tragic older brother Jack (Lucas Till) making me smile, cry and want more.

Best of all, though, is the give-and-take, brutally fructuous relationship between Johnny and June. Looking at the mountains these two must climb to finally be together is astonishing. Whether it is her two failed marriages (fraught with Catholic guilt) or his dying relationship with jealous and needy first wife Vivian (and excellent Ginnifer Goodwin), the things keeping them apart aren’t minor. Add in Johnny’s drug addiction and June’s insecurities about her career, the fact these two ever end up together, let alone spend almost four decades as husband and wife, is absolutely mind-boggling.

Both Phoenix and Witherspoon are wonderful. That Oscar talk chasing them isn’t a bunch of baloney. In a year with far too many open races to keep track of, count these two as virtual locks for nominations. In the case of the former, I can’t really say I have too much of a problem with that. Phoenix is just fine, sexily smoldering his way through the movie with an absorbing portrayal that’s hard to knock. That said, he never completely disappears into the role, and as good as his singing voice is it’s still impossible to not know in the back of your mind someone far more recognizable should be belting out these songs.

I have no such reservations about Witherspoon. Hands down, this is the best the actress has ever been - Election included – on film. Only in maybe half as many scenes as her much more (suitably) omnipresent costar, Witherspoon is still the heart and soul of Mangold’s picture. Frankly, her take on June Carter Cash blew me out of my seat. Funny, heartbreaking, whimsical, soulful, pained and loving, this is one of the best performances I’ve seen all year, a staggering reminder of just how talented this young woman really is.

Together, they’re both so good I wish I would have liked the movie more. Don’t get me wrong, Walk the Line is solidly crafted entertainment sure to please a heck of a lot of people. I’d even go so far as to bet right now Mangold and company are going to get a whole slew of Academy Award nominations, this just the type of old school Hollywood musical biography the majority voting for those Oscars love. 

I do want more, though, and like the movie’s titular icon carving a narrow sliver of a road between light and dark looking for the sound that will make him a giant, I wanted a movie with the guts to do the very same thing. The performers get that, feel it to the very marrow of their bones. But Mangold and Dennis’ script never quite gets there, doesn’t equal their efforts. If anything, while the filmmakers try to walk a line inching towards greatness, somewhere along the way they missed a step, settling for a rather benign good instead. Too bad, because this would could have been great. More so, like the Man in Black, it could have been classic.”

THE VIDEO

Walk the Line is presented in 2.39:1/1080p widescreen. The film looks fine, although the black levels do waiver every now and then making for a minor distraction.

THE AUDIO

Available audio includes English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English Stereo, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks with optional English SDH, Korean, Cantonese and Spanish subtitles. That DTS-HD track is GREAT, those rollicking moments inside Folsom Prison enough to get me excited about buying this Blu-ray all on the own.

THE EXTRAS

Nothing new, all of the extras are ported over from previous DVD releases of Walk the Line. These special features include:

• Audio Commentary with Co-writer and Director James Mangold
• 10 Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary from Mangold
• Extended Musical Sequences
• Folsom, Cash and the Comeback Featurette
• Celebrating the Man in Black: The Making of “Walk the Line” Featurette
• Ring of Fire: The Passion of Johnny & June Featurette
• Original Theatrical Trailer 

All are fine (especially Mangold’s commentary) but none are so impressive I find them worth talking about. At the end of the day these are a solid bit of extras, but if you already own the film on standard definition DVD I’m not sure just porting over what was already there and not adding anything new was the way to get people excited about purchasing the film for a second time.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Walk the Line is a handsomely produced and extremely well acted film worthy of a look. But while the Blu-ray features an outstanding upgrade in regards to audio, I’m not entirely sure that fact alone makes the picture worthy of a double-dip for those who already own it.