4th Act
Over at the Counsellor’s, I read a reminder of the old Gatsby line that there are no second acts in America, as well as Bill’s assessment that indeed America is all second acts. Sometimes, it seems to me after this weekend’s cinema-going, there are even third and fourth acts. The Palace Verona had a preview of Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash biopic, and he’s an example of much the U.S. loves an underdog and how often they’re willing to let him have another go. Not only did Cash manage to make his big ’68 Folsom prison comeback, he did it with his personal life shortly thereafter, marrying June Carter, once he’d gotten himself off the pills, and that’s one of the best examples of success – in both the personal and professional spheres – of all time. Then, marginalized by and large musically, Cash had his third act in the 90’s with the release of a string of albums of cover songs in which he redefined iconic and lost material by other artists in a way that better expressed his own genius than nearly anything he’d ever done before. Now that this movie’s out, he’s sure to see a posthumous fourth act, and rightly so. While the critics have often focussed on the linear narrative as a flaw, I don’t see much point in doing anything else (perhaps especially since it finishes up with his marriage to June Carter). Although pretty much all of the story is well known enough to many if not most people, the lack of revelations doesn’t detract. The music works to help engage the audience with the rise and periodic falls of the man and his career, and the performances keep us engaged with the characters on a personal level that works just fine. You’re rooting for the guy all the way through, so that every time you think, that’s it, what a wash-out, Joaquim Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon pull a Cash and/or Carter number out that revs you right back up into their lives. T. Bone Burnett’s music is terrific, too, as is the overall look and feel of the picture.