Walk The Line

Walk the Line, starring Joaquin Phoenix as country/rock-music legend Johnny Cash and Reese Witherspoon as his singing partner, and stubborn romantic interest June Carter, was an amazing biography.  This movie contained; childhood trauma, marriage, divorce, drug addiction and withdrawal. Cash's wounded soul, the inner conflicts he endures, the decisions that result in more pain, the temptations and pressures of fame, and the love that brings him back to the faith.  Gave me a better understanding of who Johnny Cash really was and how he became a hero to many.

One of my favorite scenes from the movie was when he performed at the Folsom Prison in 1968.  Cash performs ''Cocaine Blues'' and the performance was amazing, you could tell he felt compassion for the inmates, as well as,wanting to be one of them.  I also enjoyed the chemistry of the characters throughout the movie, the ups and downs and how they overcame everything to be with each other.  I was surprised to learn that Cash actually did propose marriage to June Carter onstage during a concert and that he became the hottest artist of the day, even outselling the Beatles!

What made this film great along with the outstanding acting were the musical performances all done by the actors themselves, Phoenix and Witherspoon sing every note of their roles themselves in live performances that capture the spirit of the music that drove Johnny and June’s relationship.  Phoenix, with his dark eyes and bad-boy aura, was perfectly cast as Cash, he was able to portray the beauty of Cash's husky voice and he was also able to perform the mannerisms of Cash- down to the tilt of the head and the way he pursed his lips while singing.  Reese Witherspoon won herself a first Oscar with her role as singer June Carter.  Although I didn't think she looked anything like June, Witherspoon became June Carter and captivated my attention.   

The heroes of this story are not perfect, but they are real.  "This is a story very few people know," said the film's director, James Mangold, who decided to tell the most dramatic and least known parts of Cash's story - the years spanning his physically and emotionally impoverished childhood, his wild rise to fame, his near fall from grace, and his self-transformation into a legendary hero.

One could say Johnny Cash struggled with inner battles which he sang about in his songs.  He touched people, and the inmates causing them to identify with Cash's music. Cash reveals a sense of his life through his music. He walked the line of good and bad and proved that anyone can find forgiveness and peace.

The only thing I would have changed in the movie would have been to add more stories of Cash with Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. 

"How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man."
-- Johnny Cash