Movie Review--Walk the Line

This was an awesome movie. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon were great as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. I'm not really a Johnny Cash fan, so I hadn't read his autobiography and didn't know anything of his life story. However, one doesn't have to be a Johnny Cash fan to enjoy this movie. The movie begins with a turning point in Cash's life. When they were kids in Arkansas, an accident killed Cash's older brother. Cash's father never really forgave him for being the surviving son. From here, the story jumps ahead several years. After serving in the military, Cash marries his first wife and works briefly as a door-to-door salesman. His desire of course is to be a singer, and he forms a band. He manages to get them an audition, which doesn't go too well when they perform one of their gospel tunes. Things turn around when they perform a song that Cash wrote, and they get a record deal. From there they climb the charts.

His first wife isn't terribly supportive; in fact I read somewhere that one of Cash's daughters was not at all happy with how her mother was portrayed in this movie. It is true that she was angry at him, at first for being more interested in his music than in earning money as a door-to-door salesman, and then because she knew of his attraction to June Carter. But I felt that her anger was justified; I didn't think she was portrayed as being excessively bitchy or anything like that. Upon hearing the gospel tunes that Cash and his band were working on at first, I might have found it difficult to keep the faith as well in the beginning, and obviously he was in love with June Carter, so that was a threat to her.

Cash met June Carter, who along with her singing family had been famous since she was a child, while touring. Both were married to other people at the time, and it is awhile before they actually get together, years in fact. During this time, Carter goes through a bitter divorce, Cash's first wife finally leaves him, Carter briefly marries again, and Cash loses several years to pills and alcohol. But when they do get together, it is forever.

The actors actually sang rather than lip-synched; interestingly, those cast in the lead roles were not singers. The music was very good, though. Both Phoenix and Witherspoon were impressive in their roles, but Reese Witherspoon was especially good in the role of June Carter.