Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon do first-rate work — they sing, they twang, they play new-to-them instruments, they crackle with wit and charisma, and they give off so much sexual heat it’s a wonder they don’t burst into flames. Theirs are the kinds of performances the Academy Awards live to reward, comprising as they do a sort of acting decathlon. But the best thing about Phoenix and Witherspoon is their emotional connection, which carries the movie and transcends the material.
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
On their show last week Ebert and Roeper just couldn’t praise this film and Joaquin Phoenix enough (he does all the music himself). Phoenix is better than Jamie Foxx as Ray, Ebert claimed.
OK, I’ll go see it. I was so afraid that this would be badly done. For some reason, I couldn’t bear the thought of The Man in Black being pooped on, Hollywood-style.
But now, I have hope. 😉