Demob Happy

Walks the line

7/10

Walk the Line is an enjoyable, even if by-the-numbers Hollywood biopic that rests largely on the strength of its central performers Joacqim Pheonix and Reese Witherspoon, who are both excellent. And I don’t mean they are good simply in the sense that they are able to sustain a credible impression of Johnny Cash and June Carter - which they do - but that they have great on-screen chemistry and humanity to raise the film above the generic dross of biopics like Ali and Ray.

Rather cosily shot, with a laughably simplistic account for Johnny Cash’s childhood, it improves immeasurably around the half hour mark and is surprisingly engaging henceforth. Although hardly subtle, and ploddingly predictable even to someone who has only a passing knowledge of Johnny Cash, the performances alone have the power to move. All this without mentioning the music, which - especially the performance at Folsom prison - is brilliant.