This is topic Walk the Line (2005) in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-17-2005, 06:05 AM:
 
Oh lordy where do I begin with this one? I guess I'll start with a question. Do you like Johnny Cash's music?

IF YOU ANSWERED YES then you should probably go see this movie. I don't know how close Joaquin Phoenix protrays Cash, but I can say that the sound mix on this is quite nice, very thick and crisp. I'm not a big fan, although I don't hate his music either...but I did find myself tapping my foot to some of the songs in here.

IF YOU ANSWERED NO then odds are you should make this a DVD movie, as there are large chunks of it that you will want to scan through. In fact, once the "I'm this great popular singer/songwriter so this means I must get doped up on drugs, act like an ass and ruin my life" scenes kick in you can just skip over several chapters. We've seen it before, it's boring and something about the way this movie was done made the drug story especially boring!

That pretty well sums it up.
 

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Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 11-17-2005, 06:11 AM:
 
I'd rather watch Walk The Line instead.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-17-2005, 06:21 AM:
 
Ok fine, so I got the stupid title wrong!
 

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-17-2005, 01:10 PM:
 
I really enjoyed the screening at ShowEast (used Kodak CineServers feeding Christie projectors on the two big screens at the AMC Pleasure Island). Solid sound mix, and very competent singing by Phoenix and Witherspoon.

Most of the ShowEast audience stayed to give a round of applause and watch the credits (unusual tribute).

4* out of 5.
 

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Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 11-17-2005, 06:21 PM:
 
Johnny Cash....PHOOEY!

Joaquin Phoenix is a good actor...but not good enough to sit through country music songs.
 

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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 11-18-2005, 06:54 PM:
 
Frank Dubrois...PHOOEY!

I LOVED THIS FILM...THE 2 hours 20 minutes went by like nothing, the film started then...boom...it was over. First off let me say, I'm a huge Cash fan...and Phoenix did not disappoint in the role. He hit the nail on the head and so did Reese. If there arn't at least nodes for them this year it will be a big discrace.

Phoenix hit "Cocaine Blues" perfect. His mannerisms were perfect his facial expressions were great. I could go on and on about this film...Me I'm telling everyone to go see it, but thats just me

Oh yeah and the guy who played "The Killer" Jerry Lee Lewis was awsome, very good...better then Dennis Quid

5 out of 5
 

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 11-19-2005, 01:11 AM:
 
I have yet to see this film. But I do wonder about the historic accuracy of films like these?

Remember "The Buddy Holly Story" with Gary Busey? Well, the actual Crickets still play together, and some years ago gave a concert with Alison Krauss on the famed program "Austin City Limits". Anyhow, the Crickets had written a song special for Gary Busey, lambasting him and his grossly inaccurate film....
 

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Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 11-19-2005, 08:14 AM:
 
I agree with Kurt...great movie. I'm a Cash fan, so I enjoyed it.

It's funny how closely the story follows "Ray":

1. Grow up poor in the South
2. Brother killed while young
3. Leave home, get discovered
4. Become a star, do drugs, cheat on your wife
5. Become a bigger star and get caught with drugs
6. Withdrawl from drugs
7. Come to grips with Brothers death, and relationship with parents.
8. Have long and productive music career.
 

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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 11-19-2005, 08:45 AM:
 
OH GOD NO!!! Don't start comparing it to Ray, I don't want to hear anyone say it's riding the coat tails of Ray...the film was already being filmed when Ray started...........

Will,

As for historical accuracy, the screenplay was written with Johnny Cash and June Carter from both Johnnys auto-biographys that HE wrote. So I'm guessing that its going to be pretty acurate. The only thing that was "acurate" was the Jerry lee Lewis timeline got a little mixed up, and a few other little things. But as far as the story and facts of Johnny Cash, it was how Johnny said it happened.

Maybe because of there similar lives growing up, is why both Cash and Charles were two of the most prolific singer/song writers of there day?!

ok sorry, just been bothering me...and I know we are all smart here but I just don't want anyone saying it...

Yes Jermey that includes you
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 11-20-2005, 06:47 PM:
 
Today, Regal Cinema World 8 in Eugene, 12:15PM, House #6. Maybe 75 in the audience, age skewed older than usual. The masking was set to flat for about 10 mins. of the preshow -- I complained twice. They did fix it. Image quality ok, sound quality a perfect 10 from me. Or is that a perfect 7? Very good mix that sounded great.

For the first half of the show, Joaquin Phonenix and Reese Witherspoon seemed like actors doing studied impressions. Not bad, but acting. Then around the halfway point, things seemed to click and they were no longer actors, they were Johnny and June. The 2:20 running time did indeed go by quickly, the story never dragged. I like this movie a lot. Comparisons with "Ray" are inevitable, but "Walk the Line" compares favorably.

3.875 out of 5 stars from me.
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 11-20-2005, 07:24 PM:
 
(I like to hear how Kurt Z.loves those STRONG "doorstop" splicers..lol)

Excellent movie! Could be in the oscars this next year for something big.

-Monte
 

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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 11-20-2005, 07:55 PM:
 
When I was at the Cadillac 5 Monte that thing was a blessing comapred to the old broken down Neumade that we had, I liked the Neumade but it just had run its course and when we got the Strong SP35 it was a blessing...We figured if anyone ever tried to rob us all we had to do was throw that thing(if we could lift it off the counter )at the crook and we could kill him, never got the chance to try though.
 

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Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 11-23-2005, 03:17 AM:
 
The movie just has the feel of an ABC Movie of the Week.
 

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Posted by John Pommon (Member # 648) on 11-23-2005, 03:26 AM:
 

quote: Kurt Zupin

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Oh yeah and the guy who played "The Killer" Jerry Lee Lewis was awsome, very good...better then Dennis Quid

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The Jerry Lee Lewis character was excellent. I sure hope another picture of J.L.L. is made . . . what a wild toe tappen
feature that would be.

Walk the Line was very good at times but too far & few for me . . the Cash tunes & duets with Reese W were a pleasure, yet I couldn't agree with Brad more . . . the drug drama occupied time that could have been used to display more postive sides of his talent . . . it may not have been as accurate. The decade of drug problems on top of his demons over his brother & a-hole dad neutralizes it into a boring docu drama when it could have been an exciting musical entertainer . . . but I know . . it wouldn't have been as acccurate. Phoenix gave a great performance but I think he was miscast.
 

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 11-24-2005, 09:38 PM:
 
Saw it today at the Harkin's Superstitution Springs 25 5:10 show in auditorium 22.

The Kodak DLP pre-show was a technical embarrassment. A badly misaligned projector, poor sound and improper masking.

Print quality was mixed: was pretty clean but at least one bad lab splice, reel splices could have been nicer and one bad green scratch (a few seconds).

I was suprised, the music was very well done, and how Johnny and June were protrayed is what I remember.

I remember as a tyke in the early 1970's Cleveland, Ohio just how popular Johnny and June were, along with Wolfman Jack and "Big Daddy" Ed Roth. My Mom was one of those parents who did not want her child cuppupted by these influences. So, what to do? Go over to my best friends house, who happened to live next door...!

Whil in the USAF, Cash gave a concert in 1990 or '91 (thereabouts) in San Bernardino, CA. I wanted to attend, but was unable to due to my work schedule (I was stationed at Norton AFB). Anyhow, the impending concert gained a lot of publicity, and the authorities were expecting trouble. I forgot, but I do remember hearing about some rioting that did occur.....

But back to the film...I wish that it would have said more about the impact that the Cash/Carter family's music had on society, rather than completely focusing on the drugs.

Oh, one other EXCELLENT thing about the film....that WONDERFUL '65 Ford Ranchero!
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 11-25-2005, 08:50 AM:
 
Both "Ray" and "Walk" told me more than I wanted to know about drugs.....Also felt cheated without the newer songs, especially the "Man in Black" song. "I wear the black for the downtrodden...." Louis
 

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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 11-25-2005, 01:19 PM:
 
Louis I too wish there had a been a few of the other songs in the movie, only problem was when they choose to "end" the film. The song had not been recorded, but the music it self was great.
 

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 12-02-2005, 12:22 AM:
 
CINEMA: Capitol City Stadium 12, Cheyenne, WY
AUDITORIUM: 6
PRESENTATION: I'm guessing Analog
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Delayed start time, improper masking (the dateline captions aligned to the right trailed INTO the masking), and slightly out of focus.
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

To get to the all new Capitol City Stadium 12, drive down Pershing and look for the marquee in front of the abandoned supermarket that was an Albertson's about thirty years ago. Look for the yellow and black sign attached to said abandoned supermarket that says "THEATER" with an arrow pointing to an alley between the abandoned supermarket and the medical plaza that opened thirty years ago as some department store. Drive through the alley to the theatre entrance. Who knows...Maybe they were given the lot for free.

The auditorium has dimensions similar to Act III's "Stadium Riser" builds without the curved seat rows and with a bigger screen. Good for me...not so good for the second-row wheelchair access. 9 rows by 15 seats (most rows) wide. Nice seats with padded armrests. They even put can lights in the ceiling across the front of the screen with red bulbs. Tragically, they weren't actually ON until five seconds before the show started, but it's the thought that counts, I guess.

Scheduled start time of movie: 6:45pm. Actual start time of movie: 6:55pm...and only after I went out to the snack bar and asked if anybody was going to start the movie. Ticket Seller Guy got on the radio to the booth. Booth Kid came running to the projector just after I was back in my seat.

Oh MAN the audio sucked. I kind of got used to it during the feature, but the trailers sounded awful. About the only thing I heard out of the surrounds was a buzz. Actually, I'm not sure if that was coming from the sound system or the climate control.

Reese Witherspoon made the movie. She is totally forgiven for "Just Like Heaven". Phoenix was pretty good too. The others playing famous musicians with the exception of maybe the Jerry Lee character were terrible as far as I was concerned. But I thought the music was well done, even if every song went "bing bada bong bada bing bada bong" with different lyrics. That's what country music was then.

I won't comment on what passes for "country music" today.
 

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Posted by Ryan Navaroli (Member # 3477) on 12-04-2005, 04:49 PM:
 
I saw this in the biggest auditorium of our new theatre which is a 40'+ screen with DTS and 200+ stadium seats. I sat in the back row and was FULLY imersed into the film and music. I was a mild Cash fan going into it and came out 5 times the fan afterwards. The seen of his brother and the saw just captured me and kept me into it the whole time. I agree, 10-15 minutes less of the drugged up downward spiral would have helped it out as I found myself going for more popcorn then. Over all I'd give it a 4 of 5 with a close 5. Joquin did a great job with the acting and singing. It seems cheap to use another persons voice when doing a movie about music, but he really pulled it off. For some reason I don't see Cash as country either, even though he is, I guess I just hate todays country sound.
 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 12-04-2005, 09:11 PM:
 
I can take or leave Cash's music, but I enjoyed the film. I, too, was reminded of "Ray" (which I felt was an even better film). I was engaged throughout and was impressed with the acting. I can recommend it to pretty much anyone, regardless of opinion of the music.

A big "you suck" award goes to Loews Boston Common for showing the same trailer twice and also for the crappy condition of their print. This lousy presentation wasn't helped by the new (?) video advertisements and the "changeover" to film which involved re-setting the common-width masking to scope, thus making the screen appear to get smaller at show start. Oh, and the screen itself was in poor condition, and there was a flat anti-cell-phone snipe being run in scope.
 

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Posted by Olivia Coleman (Member # 3193) on 12-05-2005, 01:50 PM:
 
I was able to get in at my theatre on the day after Thanksgiving to see this! Unfortuantely I have to bash my own theatre for poor line control in the lobby for the concession lines. They were trapping the ticket taker causing him to miss people coming in as they never saw him or him them. Plus the person who build the print (wasn't I nor the booth manager) did a bad splice after removing a lab splice and there was a lab splice still in a reel. One reel had scratches that distracted me.

Other than those problems, the movie itself was about 4 out of 5 stars. I agree that it was acting but I felt it was pretty damn good. I have always like Reese and really like her now! And this wasn't considered country music then, it was just rock 'n roll!
 

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Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 12-06-2005, 08:28 AM:
 
While Johnny did straddle the line between rock and country, I would say that he was always considered a country artist. He just had a rock attitude.

Folson Prison Blues, Walk the Line, ect. have country style bass lines and guitar parts, and most of Johnny's lyrical themes were country style.
 

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Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 12-06-2005, 10:39 AM:
 
He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame as a singer!
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-06-2005, 10:55 AM:
 
Cash never changed his tune, like so many artists do. Because country eventually catched up with what he was doing, he eventually became known as a country artist.

THEY HIJACKED HIM!!!

Growing up my mother had me listening to Cash, Elvis, the Beatles, all were considered rock at the time.

Rock has undergone various odd transformations. To me, Cash will always be the king... SCREW ELVIS!!!

I loved the movie. My feet were tapping the whole way through. I had a real great time, and I am going to take my mother to it. I think she will really have a good time as well.

Ciao
 

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Posted by Olivia Coleman (Member # 3193) on 12-07-2005, 05:18 PM:
 
Thank you, Dave, much agreed here! I will also be taking my mother to it soon.
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-07-2005, 10:40 PM:
 
Somehow I posted a response here that was SUPPOSED to go into my "falling down the stairs" area on Film Yak.

OOPS... those silly happy pills

Ciao

[ 12-08-2005, 10:08 PM: Message edited by: Dave Williams ]
 

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 12-07-2005, 11:14 PM:
 
Who is this guitarist "Estaban"? Seems like he dresses and talks like Johnny Cash?

K
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-08-2005, 10:16 PM:
 
Esteban is Pittsburg native Stephen Paul, who studied classic spanish guitar with Andres Segovia from 1974 to 1978, who gave him the name. I have no idea what it means.

In 1979 he was hit by a drunk driver and due to damage to his left arm and hand lost the ability to play. He spent the next decade working that arm and hand so he could play again.

Since 1990, he has built up an empire of cudos and awards, and also builds and sells guitars at reasonable prices, so that young people everywhere can experience the same joy he had when he first started playing at the age of 8.

That is his bio in a nutshell.

Ciao
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 12-09-2005, 12:07 AM:
 
Esteban=Stephen
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 12-09-2005, 08:12 PM:
 
I've seen Esteban on TV while channel surfing. One time it was on QVC, another time it was some other infomercial type show. His musicianship and salesmanship are amazing. His guitars look and sound good, at least on TV, they're priced reasonably, and you get hours of lessons on DVD or VHS included. While I don't think it's as easy to learn guitar as he would have you believe, it's sort of inspiring to watch and listen to him, and damn if I don't have to fight the urge to pick up the phone and order one of his guitars when I see him.
 

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Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 12-13-2005, 12:17 AM:
 
Ok, I really like this film. I don't know how to spell the Cash character name, but he was amazing at playing Cash. Reese Witherspoon is REALLY HOT. It was entertaining and kept my attention. I am a country music fan so I am familiar with his work and recognized all the songs. Overall 7/10, good movie...

[ 01-02-2006, 10:25 AM: Message edited by: Richard Greco ]
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-30-2005, 11:53 PM:
 

quote: Richard Greco

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I don't know how to spell the Cash character name

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quote:

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Ok, I really like this film...(edit)...Overall 5/10, average movie.

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