Movie Review: Walk The Line

I saw Ray on DVD last year starring Jamie Foxx that lead to me discovering some of Ray Charles that I never knew much about. It actually prompted me to go out and pick up one of Ray Charles’ greatest hits CDs along the way featuring hits such as "Georgia".

This past weekend, before the Super Bowl, I talked my wife into seeing a similar movie, Walk the Line, depicting the life of country legend Johnny Cash starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny and cutie Reese Witherspoon as his partner June Carter Cash. Almost like an episode of VH1’s old band documentaries Behind the Music, the stories of Johnny Cash and Ray Charles were quite similar: Both stars had a great love for music, dedicated themselves to the profession, made it big, got into chemical dependency, did some dumb shit, and were ultimately saved to become legends in their respective genres.

I had already liked some of Johnny Cash’s music and had his double disc Essential (greatest hits) CD and his last full length album The Man Comes Around, which contains his stirring cover of Trent Reznor’s classic song "Hurt". So I had a vested interest in seeing this movie since it came out late last year.

Needless to say, I was quite impressed. When I first heard about this movie, I was dumb-founded as to why Joaquin Phoenix was cast as Johnny Cash. It didn’t take long to figure out that this guy was perfect for the role. Despite the fact that Phoenix looks nothing like Johnny Cash, his mannerisms and his voice were dead on with Cash. In fact, Phoenix sang all of Johnny’s songs much like Foxx did in the movie Ray. The same rang true for Reese Witherspoon, who was irresistible as June Carter Cash and sang all her parts as well.

The movie was a nice depiction of the life of Johnny Cash. It chronicled his life as a youngster living with a stern father growing up and his break into the music industry as one of country’s most legendary performers. It also centered on the forbidden love between married man Johnny and the true love of his life, June Carter.

The biggest theme of the movie centered on the relationship between Johnny and June. When Johnny had hit rock bottom with his addiction to pills, his failed marriage, and his estranged relationship with his father, it was June who came to his aid and helped him resurrect his life and his career.

While the movie seemed all too similar to the movie Ray, it was most satisfying. I came out of the movie with an even greater respect for the late Johnny Cash and I was very impressed with the job Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon accomplished. I give this movie an 8 out of 10.