Walk The Line (doesn't)

An average flick. Here's why...

The Good?
- Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are talented and they did everything they possibly could w/ thinly defined characters
- How can you not love Johnny Cash's music?
- I'm a history buff -- always love the historical flicks
- It's a story about true love

The Bad?
- Too much like an extended episode of Behind the Music
- The songs are not the original Cash versions -- but new versions w/ Phoenix and Witherspoon singing. They're not as good as the originals of course.
- The story is cookie cutter. Very standard plot -- poor guy who grows up w/ nothing, traumatic childhood experience (brother dies), rises to fame and celebrity, can't cope w/ celebrity so resorts to drugs/booze, finds love and redemption when he needs it most, perseveres and emerges a hero. The end.
- No character arc and no real insight into characters. Who is Johnny Cash? Did the childhood death of his brother really have that big an impact on his life??
- No interest in really understanding where Cash's music came from. What was he inspired by? Does the music comment on current events at the time? What did Cash hope to accomplish (if anything) through his art?
- Movie's too long.

The Result
- An only average movie. Competently directed by James Mangold who seems to be capable of a much bettere movie but unfortunately seems unable to figure out how to make it.