Walk the Line Review (No Spoilers)

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll? Not me. Never have been. The absurdity of names like "Conway Twitty" and song about people who came home to find their lovers a-cheatin' and a-drinkin' has never been my thing. There's been some crossover appeal for female vocalists like Faith Hill and Shania, but I blame Top 40 radio for that.

And as far as biopics in general are concerned, most of them always felt to me too much like education and not enough like escapism (kind of a bastard child between "real' movies and documentaries).

Anyway, all that is preamble to the fact that I saw Walk the Line on Thursday night, and really enjoyed it. Was it the best movie, or even the best biopic I've ever seen? Not really. But Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin (ne 'Leaf') Phoenix were really great..award-worthy, even. Especially Phoenix, whose intensity and character commitment alone would have been well worth the price of admission.

There are larger issues I find myself pondering. How thin the line is between rock-and-roll and country, or between country and gospel. How a father manages to be so utterly neglectful and abusive of a son for so long and still the son wants the father to be part of his life. Or most glaringly, how a man could keep asking the same woman to marry him, how that woman could keep denying him, and why that man still keeps on asking. Add drugs and alcohol and stir for a lovely cocktail of dysfunction...Seems like one giant shame spiral to me.

Of course, that's precisely the point--influences like substance addiction, parental neglect, tragic childhood, faith-based shame of the talent that makes you special, music as escapism/truest expression of deepest pain are the kinds of influences that create such troubled, talented icons to begin with.

Or maybe I should just go with a briefer, two-second, Chris Farley-style review: "Hey, remember when, in that movie, Joaquin played Johnny Cash, and Reese Witherspoon played his wife, and they did their own singing?...That was awesome."

Comments

Viewed some trailers.

I too can forgo the dang-d-dang-dang music and the Southern drawls. Two reasons I couldn't move down south are the Southern drawl and the fact that EVERYONE strikes up conversations with you (even toll collectors).

The biggest selling point I saw is that Reese Witherspoon looks freakin' gorgeous. Must not crave the shiksas, must not crave the shikas...

[Coelecanth]

The line between country and rock is getting much thinner all the time. Country folk differeniate it into "real" country and "new" country. New country includes all the crossover artists and is much despised by purists.

I grew up in Vancouver B.C., not exaclty a hotbed of country music and was never fond of the stuff. But a buddy of mine showed me the point of good country music. He played me a duet by Randy Travis and George Jones. Randy sang first and I thought "Yah, whatever." Then George took a turn and when he was done my friend turned to my and said "That's the voice of a man." and suddenly I got it.

To me good country is an adult art form. Sure it can be cheesy as hell, but its themes aren't juvenile. It's about relationships and their failure, work and all its problems, when there's drinking it's because of something painful not just for its own sake and so on. New country is more like rock in its celebration of eternal adolescence. This is also the reason that country and gospel are intertwined. There's nothing more adult than contemplation of the eternal.

That said, I still don't listen to the stuff but at least I get it now.

[Dr. Janice]

Esther -- remember how I got so totally into American Idol this past season, rooting and voting for Carrie Underwood? Well, she sort of served as a bridge for many pop and rock fans to listen, and even like, country music. My 15 year old daughter got interested in real country artists like Martina McBride and Gretchen Wilson because of Carrie. And I've heard that this has been quite commonplace. She even wants to see Walk the Line because, well, mostly because she loves Reese Witherspoon :-)

Of course, if you listen to Carrie's new CD, you'll hear everything -- country for sure, as well as pop and some real rockin' songs too. I'm enjoying it a lot. (You can hear some of the songs from the new CD by going to her website).

I think I'll rent Ray with Jamie Foxx before going to see Joaquin Phoenix though.