"Walk the Line"
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Wind-Up

Part tribute album, part soundtrack, "Walk the Line" is the score to one of the greatest movies of the last year and features covers of some of the most popular Johnny Cash tunes performed by actor Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, as well as a few guest spots here and there.

Phoenix does a fantastic job of recreating Cash on tunes like "Ring of Fire" and "Folsom Prison Blues." Supposedly, the producer of the record was able to snare a few of the original Sun Records performers to record on the album, giving it a bit more authenticity. Witherspoon does her best with June Carter's songs, but any way you slice it, she still sounds like Reese Witherspoon doing June Carter.

It takes a ton of balls to be able to even try to step in Cash's shoes and Phoenix doesn't crush any toes. When he doesn't sound note-perfect, he's still way better than half the artists out there, and at least he tried to recreate the tunes, unlike Ray, which featured Jamie Foxx pulling his best Ashley SImpson imitation to get the job done.

Reviewed by: George Koroneos
Reviewed on: December 20, 2005