A couple of years ago I decided I need to own more albums by artists who transcend genres and decades. My first choice? Johnny Cash.

The Man in Black was a virtuoso at turning a story into song. The lyrics mean something, not like the pop tripe about holding hands or letting it be (kidding, I love the Beatles).

One has to wonder what he would think of a film about his own story? More than he gets here, unfortunately.

	Baby, when I talk about a burnin' ring of fire, I swear it's only figuratively speaking.

Don’t get me wrong; Walk the Line is a fine film and a strong story of Johnny Cash’s life (at least up until he and June get married), but ultimately it’s the same format of every E! “True Hollywood Story.”

Think about it. John is raised on a poor farm [incidentally, my Mom-Mom (Mom’s Mom) knew Cash when she also lived for a while as a young’un in Dyess, Arkansas, and her brother Joe was good friends with J.R., as he was known there. She also says he was snotty once he got famous].

Anyway, so he’s born to a poor family and a verbally abusive drunk father, his older brother dies young and John can’t live in his shadow (at least to his father), in the same way Denethor told Faromir that he should have died instead of Baromir in The Return of the King. He then joins the Army, learns music on his own, raises his poor family trying to make his mark in the music world, gets a chance, becomes wildly famous, is introduced to drugs, ends up strung out and cheating on his wife, hits rock bottom, climbs his way back out with the help of the woman who would become the wife of his dreams and they live happily ever after.

End of story. Stay tuned for “The Girls Next Door,” next on E! Hef's three girls debate whether they're really as dumb and flaky as the show portrays. Then they have a pillow fight!

Obviously, of course, Walk the Line is one thousand times superior and more dramatic than that, because we’re not talking about the make-up artist for Gwar but a bona fide music legend.

I just wanted to show how typical the story ends up being, a basic Hollywood formula we’ve seen a million times before. I’m sure there is fudging with timelines and people, but we accept that as a film necessity.

What jumps to mind immediately are inevitable comparisons to Ray, especially since critics will connect more with Ray Charles’ bio-pic because it premiered a year earlier.

That would be most unfair, if only that it downplays the brilliant performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, both of whom absolutely own the Man in Black and the future Mrs. Cash.

June is a peppy singer, a real showman who grew up famous in a singing family. Reese’s June’s got sass, a colorful personality and a big heart. Johnny sings some real downers, but also from his heart, which is a darker place, evidently.

How do they make it work, then? I hear that love, is a burning flame. It burns, burns, burns, in fact.

And Walk the Line is on fire from the start. Like I said, just because it’s formulaic doesn’t mean the film doesn’t deliver the emotional cargo to grab a nomination or two come Oscar time.

The verdict: