Walk the Line

November 18, 2005

Jays Rating:
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A film you definitely want to see before the end of the year is the exciting biography about the life of Johnny Cash entitled, Walk the Line. In the mid 50’s a small time musician named Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) is out of work and expecting his first child with young wife Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin). His big break comes when he corners Sam Phillips of Sun Records and sings a song that he wrote while in the Air Force called Folsom Prison Blues. With a record contract, he goes on tour with Jerry Lee Lewis and a bubbly entertainer named June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). As his popularity grows, Cash’s marriage suffers because of his months away from home and his dependency on drugs. (If Johnny Cash could rap he could fit in with the singers of today.) When he is arrested for drug possession, his wife leaves him and he begins a downward spiral of booze, drugs and debt. Fortunately, the love of his life June Carter, is by his side to support him when he hits the bottom. This is a fantastic film that explodes into life and hits on all cylinders. It has precision directing, pinpoint editing and performances by Phoenix and Witherspoon that are believable, vibrant and Oscar worthy. Most impressive is that the two sing all of the songs on the sound track that were originally sung by Johnny and June. I wanted to close my eyes so I could see how close their voices are to the original but I thought, what the heck! I can’t see anyway. This film exceeded my expectations and I’m giving it an A rating.

This movie has been given a PG-13 rating by the MPAA

This is just a summary of the movie followed by a comment or two. My full length reviews are written for my newspaper column and can also be found on my website.