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'Walk the Line': A story of love more than music

"Every man knows he's a sissy compared to Johnny Cash," U2's lead singer Bono once said of the legendary performer.

Well, not so fast, there, Bono. Cash was a man's man to be sure. Not too many guys record best-selling live albums with an audience of inmates. But as the tremendously thrilling and affecting movie Walk the Line shows, even the Man in Black was nothing without the love of a good woman.

20th Century Fox 'Walk the Line' A The verdict: Oscar-caliber performances keep Cash and Carter's memory vibrantly alive. Director: James Mangold Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Shelby Lynne, Robert Patrick Run time: 135 minutes Release date: November 18, 2005 Rating: PG-13 for some language, thematic material and depiction of drug dependency. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Walk the Line'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Many have called the movie a biopic, but that's not exactly right. Walk the Line doesn't chart the entirety of Cash's long life and career, and even though the movie abounds with great music, it doesn't really delve deeply into the impact that music made on the world.

At first, I thought that was a flaw. But the movie doesn't want to tell the story of Johnny Cash, the trail-blazing musician. It wants to tell the story of Cash and his true love, June Carter. At heart, this is probably the most masculine Hallmark movie ever made, and I mean that as a compliment.

Haunted by the tragic death of his older brother, Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) struggles to make a living until he moves to Memphis and discovers he has a gift for music. On tour, he meets the spunky and beguiling June Carter (Reese Witherspoon) and sparks fly, but both are already married. Yet as the years pass, the two find themselves inexorably drawn to one another, despite the "ring of fire" that will entail.

Many will notice similarities between Walk the Line and last year's Ray, the story of the great Ray Charles. Both films detail the romantic ups and downs of their subjects. Both men struggle with drug addiction, and both feel responsible for the untimely passing of their brothers. The movies even stop at roughly the same place: the dawn of the 1970s.

However, Walk the Line is the far superior film. While Jamie Foxx deserved every one of the many awards he received for playing Charles, the brilliance of his performance caused many to overrate what was a very good, but not truly great movie. Its ending tied everything in a bow and made Charles' life seem all hunky-dory at the end, which didn't ring true.

To be fair, Walk the Line doesn't break much storytelling ground either, and it is a little shallow at times. I can understand why one of Cash's daughters objected to the shrill characterization of her mother, Cash's first wife Vivian, well played by Ginnifer Goodwin in a thankless role.

Still, I felt the movie treated its subjects much more honestly than Ray, due in no small part to Oscar-caliber performances by Phoenix and Witherspoon, who do their own singing.

Neither actor looks much like their real-life counterparts, but both embody the spirit and passion that made Cash and Carter so distinctive. Phoenix has a natural intensity that suits his role well, and his deep, throaty singing comes very close to matching Cash's unmistakable sound.

But Walk the Line truly springs to life when the sensational Witherspoon appears onscreen. She puts her seemingly bottomless supply of charm to its most powerful use in showing how Carter's energy sustained Cash. Witherspoon is by turns funny, heartbreaking and tough, and her spirited vocals were music to the ears of this writer, who is a sucker for female singers.

Credit must also go to co-writer and director James Mangold, who gives the movie great visual energy. One of his best shots shows Cash's reflection on either side of Carter, showing how she is caught between his alternately caring and destructive natures.

But Mangold's greatest achievement is recognizing how Cash and Carter's greatest personal achievement was finding each other. She was so vital in his life, I think it's no coincidence that he passed away in 2003, only four months after Carter died. Walk the Line keeps their memory vibrantly alive.