Customer Reviews

Walk the Line

5 star:		(150)
4 star:		(56)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon sound amazing. You know its not Johnny or June singing, but that's the whole point and will not mar the enjoyment you'll get from the songs on this cd. James Mangold (the director) didn't want to use a Cash impersonator or the original recordings for the movie; He wanted the actors to sing and play their own instruments in order to understand how important of a role that music played in these artists lives.

Oh, wait. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon aren't trying to impersonate Johnny Cash and June Carter. Director James Mangold himself said, "If people want to hear Johnny Cash, they can buy one of his CDs." So stop calling the actors mindless impersonators; they're not copying Cash and Carter, they're trying to capture the essence of their sound.

Now, with that sermon preached, let's give this soundtrack the disgustingly positive review it deserves. Phoenix's voice is nothing short of astounding. Not only does he sound remarkably like Cash, he pours enough emotion into the tunes to make them believable. There's the opening "Get Rhythm," a toe-tapping ode to rock-n-roll. Better still is "I Walk the Line," where's Phoenix's voice doesn't miss a single note (listen to his impressively low register). He shines on uptempo numbers like "Cry Cry Cry," "Ring of Fire"--perhaps his finest performance--and the swaggering "Cocaine Blues."

And don't forget Reese Witherspoon. There's no denying her talent; she's got a nicely-twangy voice she's obviously been keeping under wraps. "Wildwood Flower" lacks some of the original's emotion, but Witherspoon is new and does a decent job. She mimics Carter's firecracker spirit on "Juke Box Blues," a twang-tinged delight, and "Jackson," a first-rate duet with Phoenix. Her back-up vocals on "It Ain't Me, Babe" also are impressive.

Tunes from other players are commendable if slightly less heartfelt. Tyler Hilton ably covers "That's All Right" and "Milk Cow Blues Boogie," and Waylon Malloy Payne scores a hit with the rollicking "Lewis Boogie." Shooter Jennings offers a fine country performance of "I'm A Long Way from Home."

Is this an album of cover tunes? In one way, the answer's a resounding yes. But every performer does well with the difficult task of interpreting the tunes to make them sound fresh.

And The Man in Black was nothing if not fearless when it came to his music.

It always makes me laugh how critical others can be. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are not singers, they are actors. But I thought they did a fantastic job singing the songs on this soundtrack. Obviously no one is going to sound exactly like Johnny Cash or June Carter...and that isn't the point of the soundtrack. Phoenix and Witherspoon give it their own sound and should be appreciated for that. I give them complete respect for actually learning and singing the songs and learning the instruments. Some people don't realize just how difficult that can be.

Johnny would have been proud of this outstanding musical tribute to his legacy. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon showcase some of his best tunes, and it's a real treat to have their vocal performances from the movie. Most Cash fans will already have his legendary original versions, so it wasn't necessary to present us with another "greatest hits" type package. After seeing the movie, I found this soundtrack a perfect companion piece to it, and I think it was perfectly put together. Great job Joaquin and Reese!

I bought the DVD of the movie after renting it because I enjoyed it so much, and previously had no idea of the course of their courtship-well, there are just too many good things to say about enjoying the movie here- but because of that was looking for the soundtrack of same.

However, having listened to cuts from this VERSION of the movie soundtrack & found them to be hollow--not nearly as rich as the audio in the movie. This was blatently obvious in every cut I listened too, glaringly so in the "I've got Rhythm" and "Jackson" selections, but true among so many others. VERY disappointing, to say the least.

And, I THOUGHT a "movie soundtrack CD" meant that it was the ENTIRE musical soundtrack. Where in fact this is only a SAMPLE of the songs by the lead characters w/a smidgen of some others. And the fact that they omitted "Times A Wastin'" is a GROSS oversight!

One can only hope the producers will see the err of their ways and release a properly produced and mixed and COMPLETE soundtrack soon. One that does justice to the fine job of replicating the works of the original artists as portrayed by the actors in the movie-because this CD falls WAY short on that note(no pun intended)

Side note: while Phoenix was the stronger in the replication of the 2 leads,I thought Witherspoon did a commendable job & I actually prefer her deeper rendition of the songs to June's. [But I admit, I have long been a fan of Witherspoon's work, & admire her guts and success in doing this (non-traditional- Reese) role. Although her characters & previous movies, are generally simply light entertaining movies,I have always found them enjoyable viewing.]

While this CD does have a couple of my top favorites--for now, I think I'll wait for a true full soundtrack version (maybe NOT purchasing this one will do more to induce them??)

It's really a shame that they allowed this release(they must've been in a real hurry to capitalize on the success of the movie) and an insult to the actors/performers on it. Maybe these are cuts of the the songs that were the actors first attempts, recorded originally as a "test" or something BEFORE the final (more practiced and polished) production versions used in the movie, and were not originally intended to be released in an "album" type version?? Whatever the reason, they--SHOULD-- RIGHT this WRONG and release a proper SOUNDTRACK. Although enough time has passed since the release of the movie that I can now hold out only a slim hope of this.

But, if you are thinking to purchasing this to enjoy the same renditions you heard in the movie-BEWARE-- shamefully, not all songs are included, and the quality of sound is noticeably inferior to that on the DVD of the movie (which is unfortunate for retailers of this product(thru no fault of their own) and fans of the performances in the movie).

When I went to see "Walk the Line", I immediately fell in love with the soundtrack. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix have a sound all of their own. I was never a huge Johnny Cash fan, but after seeing this movie, it's opened my eyes to music I would have never considered before. There really are no downsides to this soundtrack, as you can tell by the samples... all of the songs are pretty great. My personal favorite is "Get Rhythm" :)

It's a paradox.

It works, and there's no explaining it. I don't think you could replicate it in a million years. Things came together for this project that could not be engineered. Phoenix and Witherspoon become John and June. And they do so with the most profound respect and something clicks-and it cannot be bottled or subdued.

The soundtrack captures the very essence of the movie. Reece and Phoenix, both vocal novices (and Phoenix had never even held a guitar before) belt out tunes from Johnny and June that take you there...the music is as visceral, gutsy and raw as Cash. It's as effervescent and genuine as June.

John and June are smiling, let there be no doubt. If you ever loved them, this project will only cause you to drive them deeper into your heart.

I miss Johnny and June.

Having lived my life with Johnny and June as background music, I was doubtful if anyone, particularly non-professional musicians, could do them justice. But I was wrong. They really get into the songs and capture their spirit. But I was greatly disappointed that they didn't include "Time's A Wastin" on the CD, as it's my favorite song from the movie, and I'll never forget the emotion and power of the scene where they sing it! How about an encore edition of the CD that includes it?

I loved this soundtrack since it was at once familiar and different from what your used to hearing. Theses are copies of the original tracks, but inspired randitions of the originals. Not all the tracks are equally successful. I must say I'm not overly pleased with the Jerry Lee Lewis, but I'll overlook that. This is a great cd and will contribute to any cd collection.

I was NOT happy to find after I ordered this CD that
"Times a Wastin" is not on the Soundtrack???!~!