Walk the Line

Solid in most respects, this film about Johnny Cash only occasionally soars in the way it could or shoul | Andrew Coffin

Even on the surface, Johnny Cash appears to be one of the most fascinating and complicated figures in the history of American music. But that's rarely apparent in the film that chronicles at least part of his life story, Walk the Line. Solid in almost every respect—acting, directing, cinematography—the film only occasionally soars in the way that it could or should.

The problem is that the story of the "Man in Black" is reduced to the same precipitous rise-and-fall story arc that defines nearly every rock 'n' roll biopic. Born dirt poor, the young Cash succeeds through a combination of skill and determination, then slides into the drug-induced excesses that life on the road allows, and is finally redeemed by the love of a woman. Anyone who saw last year's Ray knows that story all too well.