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The Bottom Line

I found Walk the Line to be entertaining and emotionally engaging. What sets this movie apart from other recent biopics is the love story between Johnny Cash and June Carter. I believe the Oscar nominations received by Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix for their performances are well-deserved. This DVD is worth watching for the artistic quality of the feature film, but Walk the Line is available in different DVD editions that include director commentary and deleted scenes.


Pros

• Outstanding performances by Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix
• Emotionally involving love story
• Musical numbers well-integrated into story

Cons

• Obscurity-to-success-to-drug-problems-to-redemption part of story overly familiar
• Not much insight into what made Johnny Cash tick
• Some people may not respond to movie's setting and style of music

Description

• DVD containing biopic Walk the Line (2005) about music legend Johnny Cash
• Stars Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix nominated for Best Actress and Best Actor Oscars
• DVD contains feature-length audio commentary by co-writer/director James Mangold
• DVD has about 24 minutes of deleted scenes with optional director commentary
• Two single-disc editions available, one in widescreen, other in full frame, both with above extras
• Also available is an edition providing not only above extras, but additional ones on a 2nd disc
• MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some language, thematic material and depiction of drug dependency
• Feature run time: 2 hours 15 minutes
• DVD release date: February 28, 2006

Guide Review - Walk the Line DVD Review

I think what sets Walk the Line apart from other recent biopics is the love story between Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) and June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). It's a messy love story, and the film makes it clear how much Cash hurts his first wife and their kids. As for Carter, she has two failed marriages and is reluctant to commit to the pill-popping Cash.

The movie features some of Cash's famous songs, including "I Walk the Line," "Ring of Fire" and "Folsom Prison Blues." While this kind of music doesn't speak to me as much as it does to many others, I enjoyed it in the film because it's so well-integrated into the story. Phoenix and Witherspoon do their own singing, and I think they're especially effective in communicating the pull between Cash and Carter in the duet "Jackson."

Walk the Line focuses on Cash's life during the 1950's and '60's, and the rise from obscurity, achievement of success and problems with drugs are pretty standard stuff for a biography of a music star. Still, I would say the love angle puts a different slant on things from what we've seen in recent biopics. To my way of thinking, the filmmakers were able to avoid that rushed feeling, and they allowed scenes to go on long enough to resonate emotionally.

The movie is available in two single-disc DVD editions (one widescreen, the other full frame), and there's also a two-disc edition providing more bonus materials.