I saw this film last night. The showing was at the Colony Theater on Miami Beach as part of the Miami International Film Festival. The director was in attendance, as was Bunny Yeager, who photographed her in Miami and later submitted her photos to Playboy.

The film itself was very enjoyable. Gretchen Mol’s performance was outstanding, and she really made the film. The stock footage was seamlessly blended with the new to create a beautiful film that recreated the locations and feel of the 1940s and 50s.

While there were some imperfections and rough spots, the film is still great. Some parts feel rushed, some seemingly important events utterly absent, and others sluggish and bordering on tedious. There are focus issues throughout the film that I think were partly the projection that we saw, partly for effect, and partly just bad. I’m not sure what to make of that part.

Gretchen Mol, however, is absolutely excellent, perhaps flawless. One member of the audience, during the post-film Q&A, mentioned that he went to college with Ms. Page. When the director asked him about the star’s portrayal of the star, he gushed.

My favorite part of the story?
The way that she reconciled her nude and bondage modeling with her unwavering Christian beliefs.

I don’t feel that the film quite lives up to the beauty and poise of its subject, but only barely misses the mark.

This was just a wholly excellent film. Joaquin Phoenix played his role SO well. Reese Witherspoon was wonderful as June Carter (and especially to see in a role NOT playing a vapid ditz). The story flowed nicely, the dialog natural, and the scenes beautiful. I highly recommend it.

Also, I think the hype about Cash’s first wife is a sham. She did not seem portrayed in an even remotely negative light. The film clearly shows that Cash treated her like crap. She was the victim.

The book is big, so it’s no surprise that the movie is about 2.5hrs long. Nor is it a surprise that it felt Really Rushed through a lot of the film. I think if I hadn’t read the book first, I wouldn’t’ve missed much. Knowing what to expect really alters the experience for me, though.
I saw the first 2 movies before I started reading the series. I think that is largely why those are still my favourite films of the series, while I think the books get progressively better as they go. Still, I cried at the movie. And I absolutely loved it.

P.S. It also hurts that I don’t like the new dumbledore. I think he’s too … hard-edged? I miss Richard Harris.