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Walk the Line is a real life love story about two people forced together by their related careers. It is a good story showing how being on the road and away from your family in an entertainment venue can make it close to impossible to keep a family together back home. Joaquin Phoenix did a great job playing the dark, moody, Johnny Cash. He portrayed him as a tortured soul affected by the tragic events of his childhood. He didn't stay faithful to his wife for very long. As soon as he met June Carter, he began pursuing her. Reese Witherspoon was a very convincing country girl and performer. They both did a great job doing their own singing. It was bittersweet when the two lovers finally made their relationship official. Unfortunately, it was at the cost of Johnny's marriage along with the lives of his three children with his first wife. June went through two marriages before finally marrying Johnny. As for the "rest of the story", she ended up being good for him and they lived happily ever after...or did they? Yes, Johnny Cash became famous and rich and found true love, but was it worth the cost? Ask his grown children by his first wife.Read full review
In WALK THE LINE, Joaquin Phoenix shows that he's come a long way since his role as the crazy Caesar in GLADIATOR. Those going into WALK THE LINE thinking it's a comprehensive film bio of Johnny Cash may perhaps come out slightly disappointed. While there's a relative brief sequence of his early years growing up on an Arkansas cotton farm, an even briefer sequence of his time in the Air Force in the early 50s, the film really begins in 1955 when, failing as a door-to-door salesman and wannabe gospel singer, he cuts a rock 'n' roll record for Sun Studios in Memphis and his career as a CW crooner takes off. The film ends with his marriage to June Carter in 1968. In between, against the backdrop of early hits, it focuses on his failed marriage to first wife Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), his self-destructive abuse of amphetamines, and rocky relationship with singer/actress Carter (Reese Witherspoon), a twice-divorced single mother of two. The real treat of WALK THE LINE is watching Phoenix and Witherspoon amaze with Oscar-caliber dramatic performances. Who would have suspected that the latter was capable of anything other than light comedy? In case you haven't seen the film and you're wondering, Phoenix and Witherspoon themselves sing the Cash/Carter material; they're surprisingly effective. Mind you, I've never been such a Cash fan that I've possessed any of his albums, and I've only previously downloaded one of his songs ("City of New Orleans"). Indeed, when Phoenix and Witherspoon recreate the Cash/Carter duet of "Jackson", my first thought was: Didn't Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood do that? Coming out of the screening, my wife remarked that Phoenix sounded very much like Johnny himself. My response was a non-committal but prudent "Mmmm". Back home at the computer, I downloaded a couple more Cash songs, including his "Jackson" duet with Carter. To my ears, the real Cash had a singing voice that was slightly hoarser, and with a more pronounced slow drawl than Joaquin's version. While that doesn't detract from the actor's performance, it may cause purists to grumble. The film's opening scene is of two guards on a tower at Folsom Prison listening to the bass "thump, thump, thump" washing over the prison yard from the hall in which Cash is about to perform his famous concert before the inmates. My wife and I were sitting in the front row of the studio screening theater and the sound reverberated through our bones. I knew then that WALK THE LINE was going to be an exceptional film.Read full review
Having been a Johnny Cash fan since the 1950's, I rated this movie a Four Star, even though his life story surely is a Five Star. He was a man of huge talent, deep emotions, and full of demons. His voice and style of singing was unique and soon copied. He created special sounds with his guitar, and blended harmonica and other sounds. He was a story teller, and many of his songs told lifes lessons, many of which were assumed to be connected with Cash's demons. He loved June Carter and they found happiness together. Joaquin Phoenix and Reece Witherspoon did a good job of playing Cash and Carter, but the vocals pretty good were not great. He was the first to venture into prisons and bring forgiveness and human compassion to the inmates and touched many lives. This film only chronicles the period of Cash's life until his marriage to Carter in 1968. In many ways this was only the beginning of his life's odyssey. For practically all of his professional life he struggled with drug addiction, and hit bottom many times. He managed to come back several times. All in all, I believe that he was in many ways as big a star and was as large an impact on American music as Elvis Presley.Read full review
was not a big fan of Jonny Cash's music before seeing this film, and it really does not matter if you were a fan or not the film is simply brilliant. At it's core this is a story of Cash's difficult childhood and his long running love for his backing singer June Carter. The acting by the two principal actors, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon is of the highest order and it was not until after watching the film that I found out they both sang thier parts. Neither stray into pastiche impersonations, which would have been an easy trap with a well known character like Cash. For me this was even better than "Ray" (and I was a big fan of Ray Charles), which has many parallels in the story. Deserves the accolades it has received, see it you will love it.
The story of Johnny Cash had a less than perfect portrayal of the "Man in Black." Although this film was accurate, it certaintly missed several key details of how Johnny Cash's career was propelled to superstardom. Johnny Cash loved music, his wife, and had a temper that would sometimes lead into manic fits of rage.This film was more soft than the truth. Obviously Cash was played by Joaquin Phoenix, who did an average job of emulating Johnny. He sang Cash's songs with vigor, but his voice was not as rich in timbre as Johnny's. He was also flat on a multitude of numbers. It seemed as if Phoenix tried too hard to match Johnny Cash. His stage presence was there, but his facial expressions, and nonverbal behavior were subpar compared to Cash. Next, Reese Witherspoon was the most scintillating of all. She matched June Carter Cash's persona with great accuracy. It was not perfect, nor do I expect it to be, but it was exceptionally noteworthy. Witherspoon stole the show with her animal magnetism, and natural charm. Thumbs up for Reese. Overall, this is an average film, with a slightly above average acting performance by Joaquin Phoenix. This film is not totally accurate, because they put the Hollywood spin on this film, as they do many autobiographic films. Although, they did try to keep it somewhat real. Reese Witherspoon kept the film afloat. The rest of the cast(besides Robert Patrick) were merely extras. They did the job, but with unispiring performances. I would rent this film, but not purchase it. It is too long to see twice. Walk the Line got mixed reviews from film critics, and that is understandable considering this film is a love it or hate it film.Read full review
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