On Saturday, we finally got around to seeing Walk The Line. We had been meaning to see it when it first came out (months ago?)... so while there were a couple of "new" Oscar buzz films released this weekend, we decided to play catch-up... particularly since the movie just took home the Golden Globes for best picture, actor, and actress in a musical or comedy.
Since it has been out for awhile, it was in one of those smaller theaters in the multi-plex, so with the limited seating I am guessing the Saturday matinee was sold-out (or pretty darn close)... apparently, we were not the only ones scratching the film off our "to-do" list.
The movie was pretty much your standard bio-pic and, on the heels of last year's Ray, it was hard not to make comparisons between the two movies.
I determined that all you pretty much need to pitch a film these days is a Mad Libs template... do you remember Mad Libs? I loved it as a kid... a cohort would have a story where you needed to "fill in the blanks" with such things as a noun, a verb, a fruit, a number... once those words were supplied, the story would be read back to you, often to comic effect.
My movie Mad Libs would go something like this:
Let's make a movie about (music genre) icon, (singer, preferably recently deceased). We'll first go back in time and recount their years in (primarily rural U.S. state), where they experienced (early childhood trauma). This will provide the emotional core of the movie. Singer will face (initial setback #1) and (initial setback #2), but will slowly achieve success. Ultimately, this will all be threatened by (type of addiction) which leads to (relationship problem). Singer battles and defeats demons... becoming the legend they are today. I think (young-ish actor not known for a singing voice) would be brilliantly embody the title character... and we should name the film either (singer's last name) or (singer's greatest hit song)!
Voila! I am a movie producer!
But, all kidding aside, this was really a wonderful film and one that we enjoyed immensely. As with Ray, the performances likely outshine the film as a whole... again, no originality points when it comes to its "plot" and execution... though nothing wrong with how it was shot... the prison sequence which anchors the film is simply electrifying, I got goose bumps.
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are outstanding and are certainly deserving of all the critical praise/awards that have been heaped upon them. And their singing (yes, they do all their own singing - no dubbing or lip-synching) was really quite impressive. And sorry (well, not really) to the Brokeback devotees -- we both agreed, with little hesitation, that in a Heath vs. Joaquin Best Actor battle, our votes would be for Joaquin.
So, definitely a thumbs up... recommended if you haven't yet walked to movie theater line yourself!
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