Walk The Line

Walk The Line

The Man In Black Prevails

From his early days in Arkansas to traveling the highways as a singing sensation to falling in love with fellow entertainer June Carter, the movie “Walk the Line” told the triumphs and tragedies of the early life of the legendary Johnny Cash. Whether you’re a diehard fan of Cash and his music or a movie enthusiast, this movie will keep you intrigued and entertained.

“Walk the Line” starts off by introducing us to a young J.R. Cash (Ridge Canipe) who lives with his family on a farm in Arkansas. J.R. has a fondness for music (often listening to the family’s radio) and is especially close to his brother Jack (Lucas Till). However, J.R. takes the brunt of his father’s (Robert Patrick) anger when Jack is killed in a sawmill accident, an occurrence that would haunt Cash.

Several years later, an older Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix) leaves the family’s home, enters the Air Force and finds himself stationed in Germany. His love for music continues as Johnny buys himself a guitar and starts writing the lyrics to what would become one of his biggest hit songs, “Folsom Prison Blues”.

After his stint in the Air Force, his music career seems to be put on hold when he settles down, marries Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin) and tries his hand at being a door-to-door salesman. However, an audition with Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts) of Sun Records opens the door to a life (and lifestyle) that he hadn’t imagined.

Johnny soon finds himself traveling long, arduous tours with the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne), Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and June Carter (Reese Witherspoon), a member of the Carter family who Johnny had long been infatuated with. In an ill-fated attempt to balance the grueling schedule, an increasingly volatile family life and his secret love for June, Johnny turns to amphetamines and soon finds himself hooked. Johnny hits rock bottom and runs the risk of losing everything until June and her family intervene in an effort to save him. The rest, as they say, is music history.

I had high expectations for this movie because of the buzz surrounding it. I wasn’t disappointed. Even though we know the story’s ending, it’s interesting to see part of the journey that gets us there. A good biographical picture gets moviegoers interested enough to make them want to know more about the person being portrayed on the screen even after the film stops rolling and I think “Walk the Line” does that.

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon were wonderful as Johnny Cash and June Carter and were convincing in their performances, even doing their own singing. You really feel their emotions come through in each scene they’re featured in. Although they didn’t have a lot of screen time, some of the scenes with the supporting cast such as Jerry Lee Lewis’ antics and Ezra (Dan Beene) and Mother Maybelle Carter’s (Sandra Ellis Lafferty) run in with Johnny’s pill supplier (actually, his run in with them) were fun to watch as well. There was also a funny scene that found Johnny living with Waylon Jennings (played by Shooter Jennings, Waylon's real life son) before he decides to walk to June's house. Another performance to mention is Robert Patrick as Ray Cash. His cold-heartedness and criticizing nature seemed to motivate Johnny to prove that he was the better man.

While I know that the film was supposed to focus on Johnny and June, I thought some added scenes explaining how he met Vivian would have been nice. We’re told about her when he calls her on the phone from Germany. When we see her for the first time, they’re already married. It also would have been interesting to see a few more scenes between Johnny and his dad, but the scene at the end did bring a degree of closure to their situation.

“Walk the Line” is definitely one of the best biopic films to come out of Hollywood in recent years. You’ll find yourself intrigued with the early days of “the man in black”.

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