Walk the Line (2005, U.S.)

Here's yet another biographical film that never really interested me, but suddenly when I was cataloging it at work, I just had to see it. It was an excellent choice.

Reese Witherspoon was phenomenal as June Carter. Joaquin Phoenix was okay, though he was rather on and off. Toward the end he was amazing, and he also was in his drugged haze. His early singing was rather weak and might have been better if it was lip synced. His voice was much stronger at the end, especially in Folsom Prison and in Ontario. However, he had a majorly crazy singing face that looked like he was constipated or in pain or two seconds away from passing out. Maybe Johnny Cash really looked like that while singing, I don't know, but it was a bit off-putting. In terms of the rest of the cast, Tyler Hilton as Elvis was the worst casting choice ever, but I absolutely loved Jerry Lee Lewis. The chemistry between the entire cast was absolutely palpable.

Watching this gave a very good sense of musicians' road life in the middle decades of the 20th century. The costumes, props, and sets were perfect vehicles to transport the viewer back 50, 60 years.

The film seemed to go on forever, but not in a bad way. It was like I was so lost in the story that I had to wake up and readjust to reality when it was over. I even watched the deleted scenes, which I don't often do with this kind of film. I thought that too much was left out of the story, though I recognize the need to edit and thought they picked events well. I'm amazed that I was so interested that I wanted more. In fact, I went straight back to the library and checked out Johnny Cash's greatest hits.

Magnificent.

Rating: 4.5

Crazy Heart (2009, U.S.)

I went into this film knowing that it wasn't really my thing, but I decided to give it a try because it was critically acclaimed. Well, I will say that the two Oscars it won were probably earned. (I haven't seen all the competition, and something tells me that Morgan Freeman could have beaten Jeff Bridges.) I'm not a big country music fan, but I have to say all of the original songs were pretty good, and Jeff Bridges performed them exactly like a has-been, alcoholic country singer.

So those were two good elements. And I guess the story wasn't terrible, but the writing could have used some work. It was very slow paced, which wouldn't have been so bad except the characters just weren't that sympathetic. It wasn't the acting—it was the writing, Bridges and Gyllenhaal are both talented actors.

I don't know, it was just boring, boring, boring. Not as bad as The Hurt Locker, but still.

Rating: 2.0

The Last Song (2010, U.S.)

Much better than Nights in Rodanthe, didn't hold a candle to The Notebook or Message in a Bottle. Then again, this wasn't my favorite Sparks book either.

A very troubled teenage girl and her brother get shipped off to her dad's for the summer. There she finds her first love and reestablishes her relationship with her father.

The casting was pretty good on this one. Miley Cyrus wasn't that bad, Greg Kinnear was good, the boyfriend was sexy, and the kid who played the younger brother was awesome. I've seen some great child actors recently, it seems.

I think this was very true to the novel, because it too tried to take on too much at once. The combination of the dying father-troubled daughter story and the first love story was just too much. I think the movie did a pretty good, maybe better, job of showing how the girl falling in love helped her open her heart to her father more too.

It was sweet and I was sobbing at the end. Nicholas Sparks, what more can I say?

Rating: 3.5

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008, U.S.)

I thought that this film was very sweet. The idea was original, the acting was touching, the writing was good.

Michael Cera, of course, is absolutely adorable, and his chemistry with Kat Demmings worked perfectly in a nerdy high schooler kind of way. All of the supporting actors, especially Aaron Yoo and Rafi Gavron, were fabulous. Between their acting and the script, they definitely captured the essence of young people looking for friendship, love and music.

The one thing that I thought was missing was that music. Although Nick and Norah spend the film looking for the band Where's Fluffy and make a visit to Hendrix's studio, the titular "infinite playlist" was essentially non-existant. It could have been highlighted a bit more.

Still, I did like this film. Not enough films pull off the one day's worth of action thing well, but Nick and Norah did.

Rating: 3.0