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Anyone who's seen a rock star biopic in the past ten years will recognize key elements of the Johnny Cash rags-to-riches-to-recovery story in Walk the Line. What makes the movie stand out is the quality of the lead performances. Reese Witherspoon brings fire and strength to her portrayal of June Carter, Cash's musical partner and eventual wife, who took a no-nonsense approach to music and later to rescuing Cash from drugs. Joaquin Phoenix, playing Cash as devoted but emotionally volatile, is nearly as good. Both did their own singing, which is not surprising when Phoenix opens his mouth but makes one hope Witherspoon embarks on a second career. The film provides a new perspective on Cash from those who remember him as the mellow grandfather figure of his later years. Working from Cash's autobiography, director/writer Mangold (who made his debut in 1995 with the wonderfully gritty small-town drama Heavy) and writer Gil Dennis capture the raw early days of rock and roll. The filmmakers' attention to detail saves mind-blowing concert sequences -- Cash, Carter, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison on one bill in a small-town theater? -- from the "Legends in Concert" freak shows they might have become in lesser hands. The audiences, surprisingly, are mixed in age, and the artists are still growing up even as they grapple with fame and fortune. Walk the Line follows Cash and Carter all the way from childhood, when she was just a voice on the radio to him, through Cash's first marriage and into the late Sixties. Their love affair keeps the movie compelling all the way.