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Today I finally saw and while I did enjoy it a great deal, I don't think it deserved a Best Film nomination after all.
Right off the bat, I have to say Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are, of course, fantastic and deserving of every accolade they've received recently. Joaquin's performance is particularly breathtaking. He's fascinating and accessible even in his worst moments of anger or drug-induced haze. Reese is also really powerful. The acting is really what makes the movie - well, that and the music, which is just terrific. The guy who played Jerry Lee Lewis did an amazing job, though I think we've been spoiled by JRM as Elvis - the Elvis in this just didn't match up. My sister had to keep asking if it was Elvis.
As far as biographical films go it's a solid effort - they treat their main subject well, and they show us all different facets of his personality. However there's a lot of flaws in the film too. I don't think the directing is as solid as I was made to believe - the use of close-ups gets distracting at some points, and a couple of the transitions between scenes (and time periods) are really confusing.
My other big issue with the film is the absolute lack of interest in making pretty much anyone other than Johnny Cash and June Carter a three-dimensional, sympathetic character (with the exception of Jack, John's big brother who died when he was young.) I understand with the father (Robert Patrick, who was really good too) - he at least had motivation for his actions, his eldest son died. Vivian, on the other hand, is made completely unsympathetic pretty much from the start. Johnny Cash's first wife is just difficult straight away - she's unsupportive, clinging, and largely just rude. It's not that she's a bad person, she's just impossible to find an angle on. It didn't seem necessary to paint her in such crude light - I'm sure most of the audience could feel sympathetic towards her and still follow the Johnny/June story.
The scenes where Cash talks about his dead older brother pretty much just stopped my heart because every time one came up I immediately thought of River Phoenix. It's hard not to, what with it being his little brother and all, but yeah, those scenes are just killers.
Has anyone noticed that the basic romantic story of Brokeback Mountain and Walk the Line have a lot of similarities? I know I'm a little gay cowboy obsessed, but I saw definite parallels. Both films are definitely, at their core, about this idea of there being One True Love in people's lives and that it can't be stopped no matter how hard one tries. Both couples are married to other people, neither is able to be together. Both stories set in the South. There's even that woman who turns on June Carter because she was divorced, saying she's an abomination against God - there's a sort of societal force acting against the both of them, adding to their own problems. They even go fishing together! Which, okay, Jack and Ennis never actually *fished*, but that didn't stop me from exclaiming "Fishin' buddies!" and then chuckling to myself throughout the scene.
Is it just that at the moment the public wants to see all-consuming, powerful and lasting love?
As I walked out I saw a poster and cracked up. The movie's tagline is "Love is a burning thing."
My reaction? "Like gonorrhea."
7 out of 10.
If you've got a burning love it's wise to get tested
Green Queen
Right off the bat, I have to say Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are, of course, fantastic and deserving of every accolade they've received recently. Joaquin's performance is particularly breathtaking. He's fascinating and accessible even in his worst moments of anger or drug-induced haze. Reese is also really powerful. The acting is really what makes the movie - well, that and the music, which is just terrific. The guy who played Jerry Lee Lewis did an amazing job, though I think we've been spoiled by JRM as Elvis - the Elvis in this just didn't match up. My sister had to keep asking if it was Elvis.
As far as biographical films go it's a solid effort - they treat their main subject well, and they show us all different facets of his personality. However there's a lot of flaws in the film too. I don't think the directing is as solid as I was made to believe - the use of close-ups gets distracting at some points, and a couple of the transitions between scenes (and time periods) are really confusing.
My other big issue with the film is the absolute lack of interest in making pretty much anyone other than Johnny Cash and June Carter a three-dimensional, sympathetic character (with the exception of Jack, John's big brother who died when he was young.) I understand with the father (Robert Patrick, who was really good too) - he at least had motivation for his actions, his eldest son died. Vivian, on the other hand, is made completely unsympathetic pretty much from the start. Johnny Cash's first wife is just difficult straight away - she's unsupportive, clinging, and largely just rude. It's not that she's a bad person, she's just impossible to find an angle on. It didn't seem necessary to paint her in such crude light - I'm sure most of the audience could feel sympathetic towards her and still follow the Johnny/June story.
The scenes where Cash talks about his dead older brother pretty much just stopped my heart because every time one came up I immediately thought of River Phoenix. It's hard not to, what with it being his little brother and all, but yeah, those scenes are just killers.
Has anyone noticed that the basic romantic story of Brokeback Mountain and Walk the Line have a lot of similarities? I know I'm a little gay cowboy obsessed, but I saw definite parallels. Both films are definitely, at their core, about this idea of there being One True Love in people's lives and that it can't be stopped no matter how hard one tries. Both couples are married to other people, neither is able to be together. Both stories set in the South. There's even that woman who turns on June Carter because she was divorced, saying she's an abomination against God - there's a sort of societal force acting against the both of them, adding to their own problems. They even go fishing together! Which, okay, Jack and Ennis never actually *fished*, but that didn't stop me from exclaiming "Fishin' buddies!" and then chuckling to myself throughout the scene.
Is it just that at the moment the public wants to see all-consuming, powerful and lasting love?
As I walked out I saw a poster and cracked up. The movie's tagline is "Love is a burning thing."
My reaction? "Like gonorrhea."
7 out of 10.
If you've got a burning love it's wise to get tested
Green Queen
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