This movie would have an uphill battle no matter what because it will rightfully be compared to Walk The Line at every turn. But there isn't a stick of comparison. Walk The Line was a superb piece of film making and this was made strictly because they knew people would watch it because of Walk The Line. It is so poorly made and yes it is a made for TV movie but the worst part is they don't even try. First, in watching this on DVD the sound was atrocious. It might have been the worse sound I have ever heard. It was tinny and had echo and that is completely unacceptable in a film about music. The lip syncing the cast does is so blatant that its almost unwatchable. The script jumps around so much without ever showing you one really deep moment in their relationship or their lives. The cast is so mis-cast that its nearly painful to watch. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if we didn't know how incredible this story could be told. I don't know if its a rights issue or what but the music is downright disappointing. Cash doesn't sing any of his big hits and neither does June. The music is straining to get them to sing anything let alone their big hits. We get one scene with June writing Ring of Fire and then a haphazard sub-par scene of them singing it at the very end which only serves to call out their average chemistry.
In all my days of movie watching I have seen my share of mis-cast characters but putting Jewel Kilcher and Matt Ross as June Carter-Cash and Johnny Cash will go down in the history books of the worst casting ever. Jewel is a beautiful singer but old fashion country is not her genre. She definitely has a fiery personality but sometimes it feels forced on her part. Her singing isn't anymore June Carter-Cash than mine would be if I belted out a tune. She seems to just struggle to portray the Country icon. Matt Ross certainly doesn't look the part of Johnny Cash even remotely close. But that doesn't bother me. He looks far too old to play the role in various stages (he's not too old but he looks it) He tries to get some of Johnny's mannerisms down but again it feels forced. His singing is so auto tuned and tinny that its distracting and he doesn't even remotely capture the charisma and voice necessary to play a legend like Cash. Outside of a few familiar faces the supporting cast doesn't really stand out. A few reviewers called out the performance of Frances Conroy as Mother Maybelle but I didn't think she was any more impressive than anyone else.
I think perhaps I am being extra hard on this film because Walk The Line is one of my favourite movies and I have such a great respect for both of these singers and I felt like Lifetime and the film makers made no real effort to make this watchable. The chemistry between Jewel and Ross is okay but their stage chemistry is practically zero and that's not acceptable. Director Allison Anders has a decent history in Television directing but this is bare bones Johnny and June. It is truly a TV Movie and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it certainly doesn't work for this story. A low budget, low production value TV movie with some of the worst sound editing I have ever heard made this very hard to watch. Was there anything redeemable? It wasn't the worst thing I've sat through. I mean, June and Johnny have the sort of epic real life romance that is heart wrenching and even the closing scenes of this movie manage to capture a little of that timeless love. Otherwise this was a severe disappointment, poorly cast and poorly done. 3/10
In all my days of movie watching I have seen my share of mis-cast characters but putting Jewel Kilcher and Matt Ross as June Carter-Cash and Johnny Cash will go down in the history books of the worst casting ever. Jewel is a beautiful singer but old fashion country is not her genre. She definitely has a fiery personality but sometimes it feels forced on her part. Her singing isn't anymore June Carter-Cash than mine would be if I belted out a tune. She seems to just struggle to portray the Country icon. Matt Ross certainly doesn't look the part of Johnny Cash even remotely close. But that doesn't bother me. He looks far too old to play the role in various stages (he's not too old but he looks it) He tries to get some of Johnny's mannerisms down but again it feels forced. His singing is so auto tuned and tinny that its distracting and he doesn't even remotely capture the charisma and voice necessary to play a legend like Cash. Outside of a few familiar faces the supporting cast doesn't really stand out. A few reviewers called out the performance of Frances Conroy as Mother Maybelle but I didn't think she was any more impressive than anyone else.
I think perhaps I am being extra hard on this film because Walk The Line is one of my favourite movies and I have such a great respect for both of these singers and I felt like Lifetime and the film makers made no real effort to make this watchable. The chemistry between Jewel and Ross is okay but their stage chemistry is practically zero and that's not acceptable. Director Allison Anders has a decent history in Television directing but this is bare bones Johnny and June. It is truly a TV Movie and while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it certainly doesn't work for this story. A low budget, low production value TV movie with some of the worst sound editing I have ever heard made this very hard to watch. Was there anything redeemable? It wasn't the worst thing I've sat through. I mean, June and Johnny have the sort of epic real life romance that is heart wrenching and even the closing scenes of this movie manage to capture a little of that timeless love. Otherwise this was a severe disappointment, poorly cast and poorly done. 3/10