Walk the Line (Full Screen Edition)
by James Mangold
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dallas Roberts, Ginnifer Goodwin, Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Robert PatrickDirector: James Mangold
Brand: PHOENIX,JOAQUIN
Writer: James Mangold
Producer: Alan C. Blomquist
Producer: Cathy Konrad
Producer: James Keach
Writer: Gill Dennis
Writer: Johnny Cash
Writer: Patrick Carr
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Russian (Original Language); English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.1; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 136 minutes
Published: 2006-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-28
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Walk the Line (Full Screen Edition)
Movie Review: Joaquin Phoenix Delivers An All-Time Performance
Summary: 5 Stars
In a time where Hollywood is basically enamored with making "remake" movies, it is good to see Hollywood do something original for a change. This even applies if the movie is a based on an autobiography. "Walk the Line" is a movie that has its screenplay based on Johnny Cash's autobiography (and is also named for one of his hit songs, "I Walk the Line"). I must admit, up until the point I saw "Walk the Line", I couldn't claim to be a Johnny Cash fan. However, after watching the movie, "Walk the Line" not only did I watch what I considered to be one of the best movies I have seen in a while, but it did give me a new appreciation for Johnny Cash's career. This is a movie that will hold your interest from start to finish and will entertain you throughout. Much of the reason for why this movie "grabs you" is because of the incredibly strong performance of Joaquin Phoenix.
While "Walk the Line" is a movie that covers the autobiography of Johnny Cash, much of the film focuses around his relationship with June Carter - who would eventually become Cash's longtime wife. The movie follows the first 35 years of Cash's life as well as Cash's battle with drug addiction. The movie takes us back to Cash's boyhood days where we can get some background of his childhood. We learn how a family tragedy that occurred as a boy would have an impact on Cash for the rest of his life. After Cash joins the Air Force, he meets his first wife Vivian (played by Ginnifer Goodwin). After they have their first child Roseanne, we see how Cash formed a band and got his first record audition. Following the release of their first record, Cash finds success and soon begins to hit the road touring with some of Rock and Roll's early legends. During this time touring, Cash meets Carter and soon begins a longtime friendship and attraction to her. The touring soon begins to strain his marriage to Vivian and eventually will lead Cash to the beginnings of his drug addiction. The drug addiction will soon impact all aspects of Cash's life - his marriage to Vivian, his relationship with Carter, and even his career. The film even documents Cash's famous drug bust at the El Paso-Mexico border. Cash's marriage to Vivian eventually falls apart. However, the drug addiction continues. Eventually, it will be June who will play a role in cleaning up Cash - and eventually will eventually become his wife. The film will also highlight how Cash ended up doing his legendary performance (and recording) at Folsom Prison.
The one thing I learned about this movie was the relationship that Cash had with the early pioneers of Rock and Roll. In particular, we see Cash touring with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley. This is something I never knew about. The performance of Jerry Lee Lewis by actor Waylon Payne was excellent. Although Payne's part wasn't a major part of the movie, Payne still provided the brashness needed to play Lewis - making for some very entertaining scenes.
There aren't many negatives about the movie, but there are two things that I feel are worth mentioning. While the movie does a great job at chronicling the relationship between Cash and Carter, it doesn't do as good a job showing how the relationship between Cash and his first wife Vivian disintegrated. While it is clear the drug addiction and infatuation with Carter had something to do with it, we don't seen enough dialogue between Cash and his first wife Vivian as their marriage began to fall apart. The other negative is that it doesn't focus on Cash's later years - we don't see his relapse into drug addiction (that occurred in the 1980s) and we don't see his later projects (such as when he joined the supergroup - "The Highwaymen").
However, it is going to be the performance of Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and June Carter respectively that are really going to be the story of this film. It is well documented that Cash and Carter (who both would pass away before the film was released), gave their blessings for Phoenix and Witherspoon to take on these roles. It is clear that they both were perfect fits for this role. While Witherspoon would garner the most acclaim for her Academy Award Winning performance of Carter (and while I'm not an awards expert, I feel this was warranted), I really felt it was Phoenix's performance that was the stronger of the two. It is clear that not only Phoenix studied the part of Johnny Cash in depth, but would also completely master the part. This mastery would reflect on the screen. In each and every scene that Phoenix is in (which is most of the movie), you see how Phoenix had command of the character. With all due respect to a legendary performer like Johnny Cash, I actually believed that Phoenix was Cash. Another point worth noting is that Phoenix and Witherspoon did their own singing throughout the movie. Not only did Phoenix master the character of Johnny Cash, but he would also do an outstanding job at doing Cash's vocals. Witherspoon deserves a lot of credit too - she did a great job with the vocals as well. Most importantly though, Phoenix and Witherspoon clearly had on-screen chemistry - and this was very important because the dynamics between Carter and Cash are the core of this movie.
This movie was about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Some may consider this a "long film", but there is not one part of this movie where I lost interest. You don't have to be a country music or a Johnny Cash fan to enjoy this movie - because this is simply an outstanding story to follow. This movie is highly recommended.
Summary of Walk the Line (Full Screen Edition)
The story of Johnny Cash and June Carter, their life, love and career together.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 28-FEB-2006
Media Type: DVD
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