Film: Walk the Line

[smotpoker]

i might have to see this one. I think Joquan (sp) Phoenix is a shitty shitty actor, but maybe he'll redeem himself with this movie. Whoever mentioned 8mm, yeah I forgot about that one. And he was pretty good in that. Maybe he's not such a bad guy afterall...

 

[xena]

i don't know about going to the theater to see this, but i'll definitely watch it on dvd or cable.

 

[sickpuppy]

GODDAMN! The best movie of the year in my opinion.IT could be that I have a true love for outlaw country music(Walon Jennings,Merle Haggard,Willie Nelson,Johnny Cash and so on.) But this movie moved and inspired me like no other movie ever.His life in a lot of ways parraelled mine.I love this movie.Best movie of the year and the first to make me cry in a damn long time.

 

[sickpuppy]

I had to go and see it again. People this movie portrays one of the most prolific country music outlaws,and it does it in a way that makes you truly understand what it was to break into the country music outlaw scene back in the late 70s and early 80s.Don't get me wrong Joaquin was not Johnny Cash,but he portrayed the man and all his frustrations,pains,loves,confusion and lack of confidence that the real Jonhnny Cash fought with throughout his carreer to perfection.I'm probaly the biggest outlaw country music fan on this board(at least I think)and for Johhny, Waylon,Merle,Willie,David Allen Coe and so on it was'nt a red carpet welcome were they went.But they played the music they felt.Just hard-assed,kick you in the teeth outlaw country.It breaks my heart that more people are'nt getting it;and I wish more people would just give it a try.It's been probally 8-9 years since I cried like where I could'nt control the tears.Well,leaving 'Walk the Line' I did.But I think I held it pretty well.

 

[cravNbeets]

....and it does it in a way that makes you truly understand what it was to break into the country music outlaw scene back in the late 70s and early 80s.

errr?

 

[mariacallas]

for those of you saying that you like Joaquin prior to this film; what else have you seen him in?

i've seen two of his films:

clay pigeons (kickass)
gladiator (effing boring as fuck)

i liked him in the former and couldnt have been more indifferent to him in the later. just wondering what body of work he actually has out there

edit: hay gabe

Parenthood.

 

[Benefit]

The narrative was ridiculously clichéd crap; the advance-retreat scheme of the love story was tedious and predictable and the fall from grace/redemption dichotomy was equally uninteresting due to its sheer predictability and lack of innovation. It should have been more about the culture that produced the icon, the music and social pressures that made Johnny Cash who he was. The love story was boring, repetitive, contrived, melodramatic and should have been relegated to a tangential capacity instead of commanding the bulk of the screen time.

When movies, which are by their very nature hyperbolic and theatrical, try to humanize a larger than life figure you end up with a paradoxical implosion, a pitfall that can only be avoided by a very small number of extremely talented filmmakers. James Mangold is not one of them.

The acting was decent and the music was great. But the formulaic biopic narrative and equally stale love story rendered the film fairly unremarkable and forgettable.

 

[wanderlust]

i think ^ that is a great review.... and dead on.

 

[DarthMom]

actually, it would only be dead on if this was fiction or not a truthful portrayal of the real events that the movie is based on. we don't know about the second, so it is strictly an opinion, and possibly not accurate at all.

perhaps their real relationship was "advance retreat" and the grace redemption dichotomy uninteresting bc it was predictable? well of course, since it actually happened. this movie was based on HIS autobiography and he and june worked with the film until their deaths. i think it is fair to say it is likely very accurate.

if you ask johnny cash what was the most important even in his life, what influence him the most...he may say his affair and then marriage with june, if that is the case, the movie would be doing a disservice to focus on anthing but that.

i don't blame you for not wanting to see just another love story, but the movie wasn't fiction and was his life, that relationship was a big part of it.

as for my opinion on the movie, i liked it. was shocked at how wonderful joaquin and reese sang, but not surprised at their acting. i have loved reese since freeway, the day i saw that i knew i was seeing a chick with a shit ton of talent.

 

[tribal girl]

i have loved reese since freeway, the day i saw that i knew i was seeing a chick with a shit ton of talent.

Me too!. I hated her before seeing that film

"Do you wanna get shot a whole buncha times?!"

 

[wanderlust]

actually, it would only be dead on if this was fiction or not a truthful portrayal of the real events that the movie is based on. we don't know about the second, so it is strictly an opinion, and possibly not accurate at all.

i was moreso refeering to:

The narrative was ridiculously clichéd crap
When movies, which are by their very nature hyperbolic and theatrical, try to humanize a larger than life figure you end up with a paradoxical implosion, a pitfall that can only be avoided by a very small number of extremely talented filmmakers. James Mangold is not one of them.

The acting was decent and the music was great. But the formulaic biopic narrative and equally stale love story rendered the film fairly unremarkable and forgettable.

i have to agree, though, with you both. the singing hit me out of nowhere. that's the redeeming factor making it not completely unforgettable