Walk the Line (2005)

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Directed by James Mangold.

Starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Patrick, Joaquin Phoenix, Ginnifer Goodwin, Dallas Roberts.

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James Mangold's Walk the Line tells the life story of country music legend Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix), focusing primarily on the long courtship he had with June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). The film is structured as an extended flashback opening with Cash readying to take the stage at his historic Folsom Prison Concert. The film touches on his childhood, relating a horrific early incident from his life and establishing the troubled relationship he would have with his father (Robert Patrick). Cash joins the military and leaves home. During his time in the armed services he begins writing songs and romances a hometown girl (Ginnifer Goodwin). After the end of his duty he settles down and attempts to begin a music career, but his wife has trouble adjusting to his dreams. Cash auditions for Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts), signs to Sun Records, and soon finds himself on tour with a roster of young soon to be legends that includes Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Malloy Payne). On this tour he meets June Carter, the daughter of the famous Carter family, and they take a liking to each other although she refuses any serious advances from him. Cash gains world wide fame thanks in part to the inspiration he gets from June, but eventually his marriage crumbles and he develops a serious drug addiction. The film is based on Cash's autobiographies. Phoenix and Witherspoon performed all of their own singing in the movie, just as Sissy Spacek and Beverly D'Angelo did in Coal Miner's Daughter a quarter-century before. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Directors and remakes
by ShaunHuston in Directors

hasn't rated it.

"Over on the Top 5 group, tmoney mentioned the forthcoming remake of 3:10 to Yuma in one of his contributions to the Westerns thread. This got me thinking about other directors who have, seemingly at least, chosen to cash in their chips from a particularly good year or stretch of years on a remake. In this case it looks as if James Mangold is turning Walk the Line around into 3:10 to Yuma. I also thought of Peter Jackson and King Kong, Gus Van Sant and Psycho, and Steven Soderbergh and Ocean's 11. This got me wondering if there are other examples of filmmakers choosing this path, and, if so, who and what was the film, and also why a director might choose to do this. Remakes are, more often than not, greeted with growns and skepticism, even though the record is actually mixed (Soderbergh's Ocean's 11, for example, is a much better film than the original, which is almost painfully bad and boring). But, given the widespread perception that remakes are jokes or wrong somehow ... " [More]

Walk the Line - Sarah Silverman ...
by MovieBabe in MovieBabe Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"By Tricia Olszewski Walk the Line begins with a train running outside California’s Folsom Prison, its chugging morphing into the thick bass of “Cocaine Blues.” But you don’t get to hear the song, at least not yet. Writer-director James Mangold saves that particular re-creation for the film’s last chapter, when the late Johnny Cash gives his famous concert at the clink. And as performed by Joaquin Phoenix, it’s as soul-lifting as a number about doin’ drugs and shootin’ your woman down can be. Yes, kids, we have another Ray. Nearly to the letter, actually: Walk the Line, based on Cash’s two autobiographies and co-written by Gill Dennis, spans roughly the same time period as Taylor Hackford’s Oscar-winning Ray Charles biopic—the mid-’40s to the late ’60s—and also focuses on the childhood death of a brother, followed by the singer’s determined rise from poverty to fame, then the subsequent debil ... " [More]

Life-sized lovestory
by mnoo in mnoo Blog

is neutral about it.

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"I've never been a huge Johnny Cash fan (in fact, I always preferred Waylon Jennings in the bad boy of country stakes. :P), but never the less, I quite enjoy this sort of biopics. All in all, the movie was quite predictable (in terms of how biopics are played out) and in some ways a very cliché story of fame, drugs and passion. Joaquin Phoenix most certainly gives his all and wears the Johnny Cash suit with relative ease, seeing how hard it is to portray someone known for being 'unlike anyone else'. The problem I have with Phoenix at times is the fact that he throws himself so completely into his roles that sometimes you start feeling a little detached from the character, you just look at him acting hard. And there were moments where I felt like this. Don't get me wrong though, I don't think there's anyone who could have done a better job. As shocked as I was to see Reese Witherspoon pick up the Oscar for playing June Carter, I was happy to learn that ... " [More]

Two Pitch Perfect Portayals
by dj4our in dj4our Blog

liked it.

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"WALK THE LINE****PG-13 (for some language, thematic material and depiction of drug dependency)2 hrs. 15 min.written by: Johnny Cash, Gill Dennis, & James Mangoldproduced by: James Keach, & Cathy Konraddirected by: James MangoldIt was kinda nice to have the day after Christmas Day and New Years Day off work this year due to the fact that both holidays fell on Sundays. It gave me an opportunity to recover from holiday festivities and also (like many of you) to catch up on some films. So between going to the theater or staying put on the couch, I found myself trying to catch up on some films I haven't had the chance to see. Being a fan of Johnny Cash, people were quite surprised that I had not seen the this biopic yet. As I always say, I don't get paid to see movies. I like movies. But, like anyone else, it takes time and money. Those two factors were aligned on both of these recent post-holiday days and I finally got a chance to see this here film.Now, lemme first say that I ... " [More]

Walk the Line
by JimBell in JimBell Blog

liked it.

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"Walk the Line (2005) is the story of the first half of Johnny Cash’s life. I had heard that the movie white-washed his drug addiction and presented a somewhat Hollywood version of his life, but the major weakness of this good movie is how long we have to endure a drug-addicted mess. For an hour and a half we wince and squirm as Cash screws up one thing after another—his marriage, his band, his hopeful relationship with June Carter, and so on. To counterbalance this unpleasant experience, the movie has many strengths. It convinces me that it offers an insight into Cash’s character. His father’s hatred of him and the death of his brother undermine his self-worth well into his adult years. He identifies with prisoners and they with him. Reese Witherspoon’s acting as June Carter is wonderful. To state it negatively, she manages to avoid all of the modern mannerism that would undermine the illusion of a woman of the 50s and 60s. She also changes ... " [More]

Re: loudQUIETloud
by Risselada in FRESH

hasn't rated it.

"[quote user="patches"]Rock and Roll and band stories have always been incredibly intriguing to me, I liked the recent "based-on-the-true-story-of... " ones like Walk the Line, 24 Hour Party People and the thrilling coming-of-age feeling of Almost Famous. But I have an extra warm spot in my heart for AIR's "Eating Sleeping Waiting and Playing, Radiohead's Meeting People is Easy and the New Order Story for example... They are invigorating, give you a feeling of a turning point in the world, a revolution. I've never seen loudQUIETloud, and I used to love the Pixies! I'm going to check that one out. Seen any of these? MeetingPeopleisEasy's detail page WalktheLine's detail page 24HourPartyPeople's detail page AlmostFamous's detail page AirEatingSleepingWaitingandPlaying's detail page and http://www.spout.com/films/NewOrderNe ... " [More]

Re: loudQUIETloud
by patches in FRESH

liked it.

"Rock and Roll and band stories have always been incredibly intriguing to me, I liked the recent "based-on-the-true-story-of... " ones like Walk the Line, 24 Hour Party People and the thrilling coming-of-age feeling of Almost Famous. But I have an extra warm spot in my heart for AIR's "Eating Sleeping Waiting and Playing, Radiohead's Meeting People is Easy and the New Order Story for example... They are invigorating, give you a feeling of a turning point in the world, a revolution. I've never seen loudQUIETloud, and I used to love the Pixies! I'm going to check that one out. Seen any of these? MeetingPeopleisEasy's detail page WalktheLine's detail page 24HourPartyPeople's detail page AlmostFamous's detail page AirEatingSleepingWaitingandPlaying's detail page and http://www.spout.com/films/NewOrderNewOrderStory ... " [More]

I am going to buy this one
by spoutgirl in Best Movie Soundtracks

loved it.

"I remember my parents listening to Johnny Cash when I was younger and I never really like his stuff, but after seeing this film, the next CD I buy will be this soundtrack! Amazing film, I could not get it out of my head!! " [More]

I've been dreaming Johnny Cash ...
by pippin06 in Reel Thoughts

loved it.

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"You know, sometimes a movie sticks with you because of the music. Sometimes, a movie sticks with you because of the performances. This movie has kind of done both for me. I borrowed this one from my co-worker too. I had to watch it because it was an Oscar movie. See the Oscar group for more on this movie. (That and the fantasy group are kind of my babies on Spout; I'm trying to generate interest...) I really liked this movie. Like Ray (2004), it follows a sort of flashback storyline, beginning with Johnny Cash's childhood and following his early years through the period of his drug addiction and utmost popularity. While the movie is about Johnny Cash, its primary focus is about his courtship with June Carter. And really, it's just one of those American love stories that's so timeless, both in real life and on the silver screen. Reese Witherspoon won the Best Actress award for her portrayal of June Carter. She deserved accolades for sure; it was easy to suspend my disbelief. ... " [More]

Walk the Line
by pippin06 in It's a Wonderful Night for Oscar!

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Every now and again, I'm hoping that Oscar winners of the past year will be discussed in this group, at least to tide us all over until next year. To start the trend, and in light of the fact that I've been playing with lists devoted to the best actors and actresses, and in light of the fact that I watched it last night, I wanted to discuss Walk the Line. First off, I really liked this movie. Like Ray (2004), a biopic about another legendary musician that also won an Oscar for an acting performance, it follows a sort of flashback storyline, beginning with Johnny Cash's childhood and following his early years through the period of his drug addiction and utmost popularity. While the movie is about Johnny Cash, its primary focus is about his courtship with June Carter. And really, it's just one of those American love stories that's so timeless, both in real life and on the silver screen. As you should know by now, Reese Witherspoon won the Best Actress award for her portrayal of J ... " [More]

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Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

Walk the Line is first and foremost a love story. Director James Mangold touches on most of the standard scenes people have come to expect from movies about real-life musicians, but the material is infused with energy by two outstanding lead performances. Joaquin Phoenix passes the test that buries most performers who play famous musicians; one never doubts that he is playing a person capable of creating these fantastic songs. That he handles his own singing in the film is simply a bonus. Even if he does not sound exactly like Cash, he is close enough that -- when augmented by the film's outstanding editing and the emotional thrust of the story -- the illusion is complete. As good as he is, Reese Witherspoon matches him perfectly, registering every contradictory feeling in a smart woman forced to play the fool in public. The scenes in which they duet, particularly a scorching version of "It Ain't Me Babe," display an emotional connection between the two that can rival any movie love story. That connection carries over when the couple is off-stage, particularly in a wonderful early scene in a diner where one begins to sense the spark the two feel between each other. Walk the Line is an outstanding love story, a highly entertaining look at the life of a young rock star on tour, and a showcase for two strong young actors to give great performances. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Tags: Johnny-Cash , music , addiction , Loved-It , countrymusic
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