Walk the Line

Posted by Greg

February 28, 2008

Rebel Without Pause

**** out of *****

For whatever reason, I was either too sheltered (doubt it), too young (probably) or just too unlucky (bingo) to be exposed to the music of Johnny Cash when I was growing up. I knew he was an influential country singer known as ‘the man in black,’ and that’s about it. But in a testament to just how good this movie is, as soon as I got home after the viewing, I looked up Mr Cash on Wikipedia to read more about him and immediately started downloading his entire catalog. It’s a treat to see a movie that not only tells you the story of a man, but does it in such a way as to create new fans that come at his music with a pre-existing level of respect.

The story opens in Arkansas in the 1940’s, when young John Cash worked in the cotton fields under the strict watch of his father. We follow him through his time in the Air Force and his short lived career as a door-to-door salesman as he learns how to play guitar and write songs in his spare time. One day, he gets the courage to audition for Sam Phillips of the legendary Sun Records, who likes what he hears and releases a record. Before you know it, Johnny Cash is touring with the likes of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison, all of them on the cusp of becoming superstars.

Along the way he meets singer June Carter (Reese Witherspoon), whom he’s immediately attracted to. That, and the hardships of constant touring, eventually cause his first marriage to break up, even as his career skyrockets. But fame brings all kinds of pressure and Cash soon finds himself broke and addicted to all manner of nasty things. With the help of June, he eventually pulls himself back up and emerges a rock and roll legend.

One of the main strengths that the movie had going for it from the get-go was that The Man himself chose Joaquin Phoenix to play him. That must have been a huge boost for Phoenix, and he approaches the role with a ferocity that makes it his own. He trained himself to talk and sing just like the real thing, and the fact that his performance is up for an Oscar is proof of his dedication. Witherspoon also gives a bravura performance (similarly nominated) as June, the object of Cash’s affection that remains immune to his advances for years, through ups and downs. She’s been doing a lot of fluff recently (Just Like Heaven, Legally Blonde 2) so it’s nice to see her in a role where she can show off her acting chops.

A lot of work went into pulling together a supporting cast that brings real depth to the story as well. On the road, Cash’s buddies were a motley assortment of personalities that all went on to huge success, and they’re all portrayed mostly realistically with a dash of humor to show what being on tour must be like. The standout for me was Robert Patrick as Cash’s father. He was typecast after T2 but has aged a bit and emerged as a solid character actor that can always be relied on to give a good performance.

The romance between Cash and Carter has been hailed as one of the great loves stories of our time, and the script, by Gil Dennis and James Mangold, wisely makes this its heart. There’s lots of talk about a good songwriter telling stories ‘that people can believe,’ which is a direct result of Cash’s experiences with love, loss and triumph; one of the reasons he’s so well known is that his songs have always come from the heart. Kudos also to Cash (who I assume signed off on the script) for letting it show the darker side of his life as well. His reputation as a rebel was well deserved - his lows were deep valleys of drug addiction and aimlessness, and his life was anywhere from easy.

Another entry in a recent run of good luck at the cinema; movies with great writing and superb acting that are fine examples of the emotions that movies can stir up. This one might have benefited from being cut by 15 minutes, but the movie - just like Cash himself - makes no excuses for what it is. You either accept or you don’t, but this one is hard to refuse.

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