Walk the Line

Walk the Line is a tremendously powerful and extremely well acted biopic of the life of Johnny Cash.

The plot: The life of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, based on Cash's autobiographies. From his life as a young boy on an Arkansas cotton farm, scarred by the death of his older brother Jack, we see Johnny Cash grow up to become a troubled man, saved in the end by the love of a woman whose voice he loved from his earliest years. As a boy Johnny Cash listened intently to the girl June Carter signing on the radio. He tours with the greats like Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly, Elvis is handing out the pills and Waylon Jennings doesn't pay his phone bill one month.

In summary: We see the key to why Cash was the man in black and, to a degree, why he struggled with the demons he did and grew into the powerful presence that he became.

The Casablanca comparison: Pretend that Rick is married and when Ilsa and Victor come to Casablanca she falls in love with Rick, who has loved her ever since hearing her sing in a cabaret in Paris. They end their marriages and give their spouses the plane tickets to Lisbon.

The rating: One of the best biopics I have seen in a long time, so 8 out of 10. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are sensational as Johnny Cash and June Carter. In particular, Phoenix develops the character so well across the span of the film that from being just an actor in the beginning, he becomes the essence of the man - just as one imagines Cash did himself.