by SARAH ROWLAND

James Mangold’s take on the life of Johnny Cash is not without its biopic clichés. There’s the rise-to-fame montage, the cheesy impersonations of other celebs from that era (including a scene where Elvis offers Johnny some chilli fries) and, of course, the requisite flashback to a cold-hearted father whom our protagonist will spend the rest of his life seeking approval from. Not to mention the over-dramatized pivotal moment when Cash takes his first pill, or the good-as-botched audition that turns around at the last minute. But having said all that, the first few chords of the title track will make any Cash fan more than happy to sit through Walk the Line’s hackneyed narrative ploys.

It also helps that Joaquin Phoenix gives the performance of his life as the Man in Black. Not only does he carry the notes nearly pitch-perfect, but he carries the heartbreaking weight that Cash lived with after losing his older brother to a freak accident. No doubt witnessing his own brother’s epileptic OD outside L.A.’s Viper Room gave Phoenix plenty to draw on here. Whatever his inspiration was, it works. Reese Witherspoon was also a solid choice to play the perky, crooning comic June Carter. But where she holds her own, Phoenix holds the whole movie together.

The film starts off with Cash psyching himself up for his Folsom prison concert. From there, Mangold rewinds back to his childhood and then fast-forwards to his first meeting with June. This is where much of the movie stays, and so it should. Choosing to glaze over the greatest love affair in country history would have been asinine. (Anyone who disagrees should order one of the many Cash Live DVDs available online, and avoid this movie.)

As Walk the Line winds down, Cash lovers will find themselves growing increasingly anxious. It is, after all, only a matter of minutes before the obits will flash across the screen. When they do, it sucks almost as much as it did the first time it was announced that the Man in Black met his maker. This post-viewing melancholy can only mean that Mangold must have done something right, even if it was no more than casting the right leads.

Walk the Line opens Friday, Nov. 18

>> Movie Listings