# I YAWN the Line. ANOTHER freakin' biopic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315 "2005-11-16T15:45:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/1 "2005-11-16T15:45:12Z")
I’m sure that the upcoming bio-pic, _I Walk the Line_ is a fine movie. I’m sure it offers _Oscar-worthy performance_[sup]TM[/sup] by the leads. But damn, don’t you just KNOW exactly what you’re going to be getting from this movie? Doesn’t the thought of sitting through another one of these bore the jesus-lovin’ turd out of you? The idea of seeing another movie start out with a kid, somehow mistreated by his circumstances, becoming an adult struggling to make it, becoming a success struggling with that. . .just bores me to freaking tears thinking about it. Last year it was “Neverland”, “Ray” and “Kinsey” and the marginally better “Aviator”. The year before I’m sure it was something different. The year before that, something else. And besides, aren’t all these _Oscar-worthy performances_[sup]TM[/sup] really not much more than passable imitations of well known people carried out for a whole film? Aren’t the screenplays just crib-notes from a few biographies of the subject? Aren’t the “plots” really just a sequence of events pulled from those notes? If _Walk the Line_ sucks the ass at the box office, I think we can attribute it to bio-pic boredom. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/2 "2005-11-16T15:49:31Z")
Before you write off the genre, go see **Capote** , which is excellent. But no, I have no intention at all of going to see this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/3 "2005-11-16T15:56:52Z")
I agree that the bio-pics are a tad overdone, but so far, the reviews are very favorable, and Johnny Cash himself approved the screenplay before he died. Both he and his wife also picked the lead actors, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon before their untimely deaths. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/4 "2005-11-16T16:01:27Z")
Allowing for the occasional exception that proves the rule… Yes, biopics are tiresome. But sports movies are even worse. And sports movies involving racehorses are the bottom of the barrel. No, sports movies involving Volkswagens as stand-ins for horses are the bottom of the barrel. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/5 "2005-11-16T16:13:46Z")
I liked some of the major biopics last year, and I may see this one. None of the four movies **Trunk** mentioned were bad by any stretch. But this trend is absolutely getting out of hand. It’s like the constant remakes: Hollywood is remaking the lives of people who were already famous because they’re pre-marketed. And acting is being overtaken by impersonating. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/6 "2005-11-16T16:15:51Z")
I think biopics that track the whole life of someone can be tedious, but I do enjoy the ones that focus on smaller portins of their life, such as **Capote** or **Finding Neverland**. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/7 "2005-11-16T16:30:54Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Before you write off the genre, go see **Capote** , which is excellent. Acutally, I did see it and intentionally left it out of the OP. That’s actually an example of how you can do it well. If you want to do a movie about a famous person, it doesn’t have to be born-struggled-died. _Capote_ gave you a great sense of his childhood - filtered through his perceptions of it. Interesting take. And, it gave a sense of what happened after the Cold Blood episode. Furthermore, I thought PSH’s performance was astounding. If I were pressed on why I would call Jamie Foxx’s performance in Ray an “impersonation” and PSH’s performance a “becoming the character”, I couldn’t give you a good answer. So I’ll leave it at that. It definitely looks like “Walk the Line” is more in that “Ray” mode than the “Capote” mode, though. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/8 "2005-11-16T16:40:21Z")
**Trunk** – you ever going to come to a MAD dopefest? I’m getting very curious to meet you someday. (And I’d’ve excluded **Capote** as not really a “bio” pic, since it is just about a specific period in his life, rather than his whole life. Astonishingly excellent film, however, whatever genre you want to stick it in.) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/9 "2005-11-16T16:55:43Z")
As someone who thought _Ray, Neverland_ and _Kinsey_ were mediocre, I am really looking forward to this film. I really enjoy musical biopics that stay true to the spirit of the personalities, especially when the actors do their own singing (_The Buddy Holly Story, Coal Miner’s Daughter_), and Phoenix and Witherspoon (2 actors I like) are supposed to be very impressive. Even if the film itself is only so-so (_What’s Love Got to Do With It_), electric performances often make a film worth seeing. Plus, there may not be a 20th Century musical figure I like more than Johnny Cash. I’ll be there opening weekend (since _WtL_ will be up against the new Harry Potter film). ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/10 "2005-11-16T16:59:28Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Both he and his wife also picked the lead actors, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon before their untimely deaths. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon died? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/11 "2005-11-16T17:19:01Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > **Trunk** – you ever going to come to a MAD dopefest? I’m getting very curious to meet you someday. . . .I went to Ginger & WeirdDave’s last year. I have noticed we tend to have interests in common, though our personalities are quite different. > [@Archive Guy](#): > > Plus, there may not be a 20th Century musical figure I like more than Johnny Cash. Yeah, well I like him too. I also like Joaquin and Reese, but dang if this doesn’t look like a total by-the-book film. That’s what’s kind of depressing. How about an outlaw film about an outlaw, or something. I don’t know. I’m just a movie-goer. The director has a funny resume, he did _Identity_ which I liked, _Kate & Leopold_, a weird romantic comedy involving time travel, and _Cop Land_. All of those are movies that sort of play aginst their _genres_ so maybe he can do something interesting with _Walk the Line_. (not **I** Walk the Line – my bad.) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/12 "2005-11-16T17:26:03Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > . . .I went to Ginger & WeirdDave’s last year. > > I have noticed we tend to have interests in common, though our personalities are quite different. Heh. Exactly. We’d either really enjoy our conversation or drive each other completely batshit – I’m just curious to know which it would be. I’ll try to make it to a B’more gathering sometime. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/13 "2005-11-16T17:29:25Z")
I’m looking forward to it. I know several people who worked on the movie, and I saw some of the rushes during the production. I’m still up in the air about Phoenix, but the bits of Witherspoon’s performance I saw were quite excellent. And it’s not a tell-the-story-of-their-full-life biopic. It concentrates on Cash’s crisis in the 60’s that led to his marraige to June, so maybe that will persuade you to give it a chance. Biographies may be overdone, but a good one is still worth my time. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-yawn-the-line-another-freakin-biopic/331315/14 "2005-11-16T17:34:51Z")
The problem I have with some (not all) of these type of bio-pics is in the actor’s portrayal of the lead character. Generally, the person being portrayed is/was some kind of immensely talented genius at the very top of their field, a much larger-than-life persona. If I were to meet that person in real life, or see that person perform in real life, that essence comes through. The actors chosen to portray them…not so much. As hard as they try, they can only play “at” that essence, almost as a charicture, they just can’t bring it. I’m not blaming them, it’s the nature of the beast.