The Next Big Thing

So the intention was to go and see “The Proposition”. However, as it turns out, it wasn’t bloody on so – being in the cinema I decided, agin my inner judgement to see “Walk The Line”. For weeks now I managed to quell the nosey gene but faced with no real alternative I laid the money down. Turns out that my hunch was right all along, it’s not what it’s cracked up to be. It’s watchable enough and, though I’m not a fan, Reese Witherspoon really steals the show. Such as it is. That Phoenix guy reminds me more of Morrissey by way of Chris Isaak than Johnny Cash. Of course if you deck him out in black then it’s like a cloak of invisibility but I’d rather that Lou Whitney had done the voiceover. It’s in the same biopic territory as Ray and the superior “What’s Love Got To Do With It”. All very authentic but missing any real heart and/or soul. It’s no “Great Balls Of Fire” and if you thought that Dennis Quaid didn’t look like Jerry Lee then you want to clock the geezer that plays him in this. “WTL” has none of “Great Balls” raggedy charm. The score is good if slightly homogenized but I think that’s because the real tracks are so familiar to me. It’s a seasoned crew including Peter Case and Tony Gilkyson. My favourite was their rendition of “It Ain’t Me Babe”, there was actually some on-screen chemistry there. The practice of making films about people who haven’t long shifted this mortal coil is something I find uncomfortable. If it introduces the music to an audience that hasn’t been exposed to it then fine but the vehicle is too glossy. Too slick. But ain’t those the breaks…