Walk The Line is a movie depicting the life and times of Johnny Cash, the famous American singer and songwriter. Cash was famous for his turbulent and vastly successful life, in which he set countless precedents followed many years after by members of the music industry. Johnny Cash was a multifaceted man, and beneath his charming exterior was a tortured soul with a dark past.
Director James Mangold (3:10 To Yuma) said that his biggest challenge was to find an actor with the ability to portray Cash's dark side, and he could not have done better than Joaquin Phoenix (We Own The Night, Gladiator). Phoenix was perfect for the role, offering similarities to Cash in his looks, singing voice, and in his darkness of character. Co-starring alongside Phoenix is Reese Witherspoon (Four Christmases, Legally Blonde), who plays the like able Country singer June Carter. The chemistry between these two characters is palpable, and it drives the movie forward. When the two characters are apart, Director Mangold focuses on the perspective of Johnny Cash, allowing you to see the passage of time from his point of view, which really helps the audience feel the void that is caused by Carter's (Witherspoon's) absence, and this allows for a much more fulfilling experience when the two are finally together.
Johnny Cash was subjected to a tragedy when his brother Jack died when the two boys were very young, and that terrible event coupled with his abusive and alcoholic father serve as the basis for Cash's troubled personality. Some unhelpful factors include Cash's life of being constantly on the road away from his family, close to the exposure of various kinds of drugs and as well as women.
The movie follows Cash's career from its beginning up to the famous record of the "Folsom Prison Blues" album. The movie covers the majority of Cash's life, so it is a tad long at 2 hours and 15 minutes. The enthralling character portrayal that Phoenix delivers will certainly be enough to keep audiences from squirming in their seats, however. He is nothing short of amazing in the film. I would certainly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys Johnny Cash and is interested in the story of his life as interpreted through Director James Mangold and lead actor Joaquin Phoenix.
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I agree Sir Benjamin. I enjoyed Walk the Line and I don't even care much for Johnny Cash's music. Joaquin Phoenix, however potentially disturbed he is, did a fantastic job and really captured the persona of Cash. Paired with Mangold, who did a fantastic job with 3:10 To Yuma, the duo were the sole reason the film was good. The length was an issue for me.
ReplyDeleteI am still hoping that Joaquin Phoenix is just a genius actor that is so into his next role in Cast Away: Part Two. He's fooling us all I tell you
ReplyDeleteYeah, I liked this film also. You mention his abusive, alcoholic father. I thought the film intimated that the father was not that bad. At one point, Cash tries to blame him for something, and the father says, "I haven't had a drink in 30 years. What about you?" or something to that effect. The upshot was that the problems just came out of Cash himself, not his childhood or his background or whatever.
ReplyDeleteNick has mentioned 3:10 to Yuma several times, but I was bored. I didnt' think there was much there.
Well in the scene where his brother is badly hurt his father passes him in the road with his truck to pick him up, and he accusingly says "Where have you been?" As if he were blaming him for not being there for his brother.
ReplyDeleteThen later on in the movie Cash has everyone over his new house for Thanksgiving. He tried to get his father's approval of the house, but all the father could comment on was the poor condition of a tractor outside. This caused a whole teary outburst, and he drove the tractor into the lake in the next scene.
Personally I see how you could think that all the problems came from Cash, but I think all of his flaws and instability came from his home life.
And yes, I agree with you about 3:10 To Yuma, I wasn't too thrilled with it.
I thought Walk The Line was an excellent film and I have to say, I was never a fan of country music until I saw this movie. The power of the lead roles was extremely accurate and impressive. I was watching a clip about this film, where Jonny's old friends spoke about how accurate Cash was portrayed in this film and thats why I feel it was such a great film.
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