Walk the Line

James Mangold's biopic of Johnny Cash has been called this year's Ray. Both are very conventional Hollywood musical biographies, presented without a great deal of imagination, but both are also notable for uncannily accurate lead performances—by Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx in Ray, and here by both Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter (the talented duo have already scored Golden Globe wins and Oscar nominations). Unfortunately, Cash's story—which included childhood trauma, a stern father, marital troubles, alcoholism, and drug addiction—just isn't as dramatically compelling as Ray. Still, Walk the Line is an enjoyable watch: it includes a lot of Cash's and Carter's exhilarating music, and certainly Phoenix and Witherspoon are remarkable performers, going well beyond mere impersonation (doing their own singing as well). But the film never really gets beneath the surface, coming across as curiously superficial in its depiction of Cash's dreams as well as his troubles. Recommended, overall. (F. Swietek)(/p[DVD Review—Mar. 18, 2008—Fox, 2 discs, 153 min., not rated, $26.98—Making its third appearance on DVD, 2005's Walk the Line (Extended Cut) sports a nice transfer with Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS surround sound. DVD extras include 17 minutes of extra footage (including extended music performances), audio commentary with director/co-writer James Mangold, eight extended music sequences with optional introductions (27 min.), the 22-minute “making-of” featurette “Celebrating the Man in Black,” a 15-minute featurette on “The Cash Legacy,” related segments on “Sun Records and the Johnny Cash Sound” (12 min.), “Folsom: Cash and the Comeback” (12 min.), “Ring of Fire: The Passion of Johnny and June” (12 min.), “Becoming Cash/Becoming Carter” (11 min.), and “Cash and His Faith” (11 min.), two deleted scenes with optional commentary (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: if you already own the double-disc special edition, much of this will be already familiar.][Blu-ray Review—Feb. 16, 2010—Fox, 135 min., PG-13, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2005's Walk the Line features a nice transfer and a 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by co-writer/director James Mangold, deleted scenes (23 min.), a “Celebrating the Man in Black” making-of featurette (22 min.), a “Folsom, Cash & the Comeback” featurette (12 min.), a “Ring of Fire: The Passion of Johnny & June” featurette (12 min.), extended musical sequences (6 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for this winning musical biopic.]