Johnny Cash and June Carter

I just saw Walk the Line and logged on to rottentomatoes.com and saw that they had 178 reviews of the movie. From the leadlines of the first 30 or so, I saw that most liked the movie, some loved it, and a few thought it just another biopic. Everyone loved Reese Witherspoon's June Carter and almost everyone felt the same about Joaquim Phoenix.

I was a little disappointed, although I enjoyed the movie. I did not see anyone who had quite my take. I thought the story was fairly much a repeat of "Ray"; a number of critics compared the two, something favoring one and some the other. I thought Ray's story was a bit more compelling; I did not feel that Phoenix put much depth into Cash, although he does sing well.

And the voice, in spite of what some say, pales in comparison. In fact, what I liked best about the movie was the music, but I could only compare Phoenix to the real Cash in each song.

As to Witherspoon, she was very appealing. Undoubtedly more appealing than Carter herself would have been. I liked that.

But the story line was tired (even if true) and shown without imagination. There were clearly no good guys (although Carter tried hard) and if Cash did turn into a good guy after his marriage to Carter, that part of his life is not part of the movie.

I don't care for Phoenix. I don't like looking at him for whatever reason. And I guess that is important, again particularly when I have Cash in mind.

There was another small plus. I had forgotten that old Tennessee license plates shaped like the state. It was very good to see them again.