Walk the Line: Extended Cut DVD Review (2008)

This extended cut of James Mangold’s Academy Award-winning film offers viewers 17 additional minutes of footage.

Good luck finding them.

Still, considering the wealth of bonus features and commentaries this new edition offers, it’s highly recommended for those who still haven’t seen the film.

The movie follows the defining years of Johnny Cash's life, with Mangold taking us from Cash's difficult childhood in Arkansas to his rise to fame, his struggle with drug addiction, his marriages to first wife, Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), and great love June Carter (Reese Witherspoon), and his knockout, 1968 show at Folsom State Prison.

As with so many biopics focused on musicians, Mangold's movie is essentially a film about overcoming addiction in order to further one's path to legend.

That familiarity would have done the movie no favors had Mangold not had the strength of subtlety, which shows throughout, and especially the performances from his cast, who transcend formula by allowing audiences to fully invest themselves in what matters--the budding, turbulent relationship between Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) and June.

Read the full, unedited review here.

Rated PG-13. Grade: A-