Walk the Line (Widescreen 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, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
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 (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."
Summary: 5 Stars
In general, biographical films tend to be troublesome: how do you do justice to ANYONE's life in 120 minutes? Much less a musical legend with a life full of such intrigue and drama that it could fill several years worth of the National Enquirer, front to back?
First of all I must admit that I am not generally a fan of many things that are front and center in this film, those being country music, musicals, Jonny Cash, and heavily biographical films in which we're shown the rich artist as a poor, lil child, only to turn into a major singer later in life, complete with tough breaks in love and all sorts of drug and alcohol problems. That said, if you're looking at this film on paper, that's pretty much what you get, but if you actually watch the movie, you'll get a lot more out of it, mainly due to the film's two lead actors, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, both of whom take over their real-life counterparts' personas entirely, and deliver two of the most resonant performances of the year.
I found myself utterly swept away with this gritty yet utterly enchanting story of Jonny Cash and the story of the great love that grew between country stars Cash and June Carter during the early years of Cash's career. "Walk the Line" is the result of intense collaboration between director James Mangold, co-writer Gill Dennis, Johnny Cash, and June Carter Cash. Though both Cashes died in 2003, they oversaw the script's development for seven years. Mangold and Cash's insistence that the film's stars would actually sing paid off. Witherspoon's singing (as June) is lovely, and Phoenix's contains the raw energy and soul that defined Cash's sound. Even as a child on a cotton farm in Depression-era Arkansas, Cash shows a strong interest in music, escaping from his no-frills life and strict father (Robert Patrick) through hymns and listening to the radio. When his brother dies in a freak accident, young Johnny feels responsible, and worries that he will never live up to his brother's goodness.
The film follows Cash through his first marriage with Vivian Cash (Ginnifer Goodwin) and into the early stages of his touring career alongside such musicians as Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, and most importantly, June Carter. As Cash's success grows, so does his relationship with drugs, alcohol, and Carter, putting a strain upon his family life. From his initial audition with Sam Phillips of Sun Records on through his legendary 1968 concert at Folsom Prison, Cash is transformed from a hesitant singer riddled with demons to a man whose uniquely bold style would make music history.
At the film's opening, Cash (Phoenix) sits alone in a side room fingering a saw blade, then flashes back to his childhood on a cotton farm. His overbearing father (Robert Patrick) blames him for his older brother's accidental death, which may or may not have been prevented had Cash been working with him instead of fishing. The severity of Ray Cash's "it should have been you, J.R." mentality will stay with Johnny Cash always, creeping into his songs and his medicine cabinet.
The story is simple enough, and at times conventional. Cash's relationship with his first wife, Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), is relegated to the standard "we can't make rent," and, "I'm jealous of those screaming girls on the tour" kind of strife, which no doubt happened, but wasn't there something deeper?
Nonetheless, Mangold creates savory moments that not only subvert convention, but yield new insight. Cash's first session with Sam Phillips at Sun Records (a bit part played like a big one by Dallas Roberts) - when Phillips preaches to Cash and his dopey-eyed backup gospel singers about the kind of songs that really save people (the kind that sell records) - is one of the more sheerly fun scenes in film this year; second, perhaps, to the theology lesson delivered by Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne).
These moments - what it's like in the car with Cash, Lewis and gang - are the sort of things easily left out of a biography, and they are the kind of details without which a biography seems devoid of the life it's trying to explain. Witherspoon becomes the unlikely anchor of this film - the peg around which all of its honesty is tethered. We see it in the way she responds to a store clerk lecturing Carter on the moral implications of divorce, and in the way she instantly recovers, on the surface, because she has to buoy Cash.
"Walk the Line" never attempts to paint a full picture of Cash's prolific career, but instead focuses on the passions that drove his music and on the woman who gave him strength. With magical performances by Witherspoon and Phoenix, a haunting and inspiring American romance is brought beautifully to life. All together now, now wasn't that the cutest little love story?"
"Walk the Line" leaves approximately 35 years of Cash's life untouched, and has gaps in much of the time it does cover. This is a good thing. Many films about legendary figures forget that legends make their own records. These films try to cover too much ground and suggest that all of life's conflicts should be resolved, or reach an end. But the best ones leave an open door, recognizing that legends - the dark parts, happy parts, and all - never stop revealing themselves.
Summary of Walk the Line (Widescreen 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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