I Walk the Line (1970)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

This film is set somewhere in the South, though the film never indicates exactly where. I assume it's Tennessee or Arkansas as it's very hilly and the accents of most of the people would indicate that. The local sheriff begins an affair with the daughter of a moonshiner and this all leads to terrible consequences.I just read through the reviews on IMDb and I seem to be in the minority here, as I wasn't particularly happy with this film--some of it due to the odd casting of Gregory Peck. The reason I chose to see it was the presence of Peck. Heck, the man could read from a phone book on film and I'd watch it!! I've seen him in some campy films later in his career such as THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL and THE OMEN simply because even with these silly roles, he still managed to transcend it all. However, despite my love of his films, this one disappointed me very much. Instead of the strong and decent persona he played in such films as 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD,THE BIG COUNTRY and other films, here he manages to be a rather unlikable and difficult to understand character. I think the blandness of the guy he played was the biggest deficit in the film and for once he was miscast. I really think that Ralph Meeker (who played the moonshiner in the film) would have been better in the role, as he had a long career out of playing morally ambivalent characters--plus he was a heck of an actor in his own right (despite not being a household name). Charles Durning, a supporting actor in the movie, also could have carried off this role very well.Perhaps one of the best performances in the film was that of Estelle Parsons. For once, she had a part that seemed very suited to her. Her roles in films such as BONNY AND CLYDE and DON'T DRINK THE WATER (among others) didn't do a lot to allow her to do much character acting (though she did get the Oscar for BONNY because apparently they liked to see her shriek). Here, however, she is amazingly believable as a sad and lamentable wife who's losing her husband to a young nymph.Overall, despite bad casting, this isn't a bad film--but it also isn't a very good film. Its pluses are gritty realism and some of the Johnny Cash music (particularly the title song). Minuses are Peck and the vagueness of his character and the unbelievability of the affair between him and Tuesday Weld--two actors that don't exactly seem at place in the hills of the South. Simply put, the script wasn't exactly first-rate.

Underrated, overlooked gem from director John Frankenheimer has Gregory Peck in fine form playing Tennessee sheriff and family man in a depressed hillbilly town falling for Tuesday Weld, the comely daughter of a moonshiner. The sheriff, torn by sexual longing and responsibilities--and throwing all morality out of his path--strikes a subtle arrangement with the mountain clan to continue seeing their daughter if they keep their business under-wraps...but is this girl just stringing the lawman along? Frankenheimer bookends the film with a collage of sorrowful faces (scored with music by Johnny Cash) and the effect is a bit pretentious (it seems like a put-on); however, the director's dramatic compositions (helped immeasurably by David M. Walsh's superlative cinematography) overcome this arty overreaching and actually take on some meaning. Alvin Sargent's screenplay, adapted from Madison Jones' book "An Exile", is literate and engrossing, and the obtrusiveness of that stilted opening (as well as Cash's songs, pushed too far out in front) can easily be forgiven. Sexual obsession wears surprisingly well on Gregory Peck, and when he asks Weld to run away with him, you believe it. Both performers are terrific (even Peck's arched eyebrow and granite jaw work well for him here) and the supporting cast is equally solid. Atmospheric and charged with emotion. *** from ****

This is a very good film. Tuesday Weld and Gregory Peck give great performances. Never has Peck's 'stiff' style of acting been better suited for a role. He is wound so tight in this part it seems like he will explode any minute. His eyes and silent desperate yearning when he is looking at the truly beautiful Weld tell's the desperate needs of the man he portrays. Any man above forty will feel his pain and desire...and many his ultimate heartbreak. The original sound track by Johnny Cash is pitch perfect. The last scene of the film is truly remarkable and heartbreaking although it can be seen coming from the opening credits. This maybe Peck's most under-rated performance and Tuesday weld's best.

I happened upon the film on French television. It was very well done. Gregory Peck gave a wonderful performance. The changes in his character and his anguish were felt. I was impressed that in 1970 there was a nude bedroom scene. I did compare it to Damage with Jeremy Irons and what they visibly display nowadays. G.P. and Tuesday Weld did a great job without that display. Ralph Meeker was a charmer as always. It does not require an R rating. The incest was suggested in a subtle fashion. Albeit an eerie moment. The photography was very interesting. I am not a Johnny Cash fan but his music was fitting. Loved the film. Azignon