popular thinking

SING, LIP-SYNC OR 'WALK THE LINE'?

Actors get in sync with musicals (Boston Herald)
In Walk the Line, a biography of Johnny Cash opening in theaters Friday, stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon make the brave - some would say foolhardy - decision to sing.
Do they hit the right notes? You’ll decide soon enough.
Some actors, however, do have an uncanny ability to portray singers onscreen. Jamie Foxx proved that last year in his Oscar-winning performance in Ray as the late Ray Charles. Foxx chose an odd way to go, lip-syncing the vocals but playing the piano parts himself.
Most actors go all or nothing.
Not that it should surprise anyone, but Curtis Jackson (50 Cent) raps as the fictional version of himself in Get Rich or Die Tryin.’ Sounds just like him, too.
That’s not the case for Walk the Line. An actual Johnny and June duet plays over the end credits, reminding you of Phoenix and Witherspoon’s shortcomings.
Actors Tyler Hilton (as Elvis Presley), Waylon Payne (as Jerry Lee Lewis), Johnathan Rice (as Roy Orbison) and Shooter Jennings (as his father, Waylon) also sing for their proverbial suppers in the movie.
None of the performances will make you forget the original hits.
But they don’t detract from your enjoyment of the movie or admiration for the real people, either.
The same cannot be said for some past musical biographies, which met with varying degrees of success.

Beyond the Sea (2004): Kevin Spacey channels Bobby Darin. We saw it coming when Spacey performed a John Lennon cover at a televised benefit concert a couple of years ago. But audiences would want to see Lennon’s life retold onscreen. Darin’s? Not so much. “Mack the Knife” couldn’t cut it.

8 Mile (2002): Eminem loses himself in the role of Rabbit, who was based on Eminem. Like Get Rich or Die Tryin,’ only more believable. Which shouldn’t make as much sense as it does, until you watch both movies.

Selena (1997): Jennifer Lopez got her first starring role as Tejano sensation Selena Quintanilla-Perez. This was before J.Lo, two divorces, the dalliances with Sean Combs and Ben Affleck, and her own singing career. Selena’s family demanded Lopez lip-sync. If only Marc Anthony had such pull.

What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993): Angela Bassett spins as Tina Turner in an Oscar-nominated performance. Bassett lip-synced. We’d write something snarky, but Ike might be reading this.

The Doors (1991): Val Kilmer as the Lizard King, Jim Morrison. Kilmer sang in the 1984 spy spoof “Top Secret!” So why not here? The movie blends both Kilmer’s and Morrison’s vocals. Oliver Stone directed, so start your conspiracy theories now.

Great Balls of Fire! (1989): Dennis Quaid as piano-playing, cousin-marrying Jerry Lee Lewis. Quaid wrote songs for several of his films, singing some in 1987’s “The Big Easy.” But Quaid lip-synced here. And we all know the track record of actual musicians who have dated Winona Ryder. Goodness gracious, indeed.

La Bamba (1987): Lou Diamond Phillips as Ritchie Valens. It got the song stuck in everyone’s head and ended up doing much more for the career of Los Lobos, the band that performed the songs for the soundtrack, than for Phillips.

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980): Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn and Beverly D’Angelo as Patsy Cline did their own singing, and it turned out to be much less frightening than Spacek’s earlier turn as “Carrie.” She won the Best Actress Oscar and also received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance.