Walk the Line (2005) Review

Walk the Line (2005)

Walk the Line follows the rise of country music legend, Johnny Cash, and the subsequent love story of one of country’s most iconic duos.

An issue I usually have with biopics is the need to fit some type of love story into the plot, for plot’s sake, sometimes even making it more important than the story of the individual being told. But with Johnny Cash, his enduring love story with June Carter is just as integral to his story as his music. It’s a story that stretches back to when he was just kid, listening to The Carter Family on the radio, to his time in the Air Force, reading about June in magazines, culminating in their first tour together in the early 60s. It’s a story, as painful as it can get at times, that Walk the Line really gets right, detailing the collapse of Johnny’s first marriage, his struggles with drug abuse, and his rise from the ashes during his comeback album at Folsom Prison. All the time, Carter was at his side. 

And so while this is obviously a Cash biopic, this is also a biopic of Cash and Carter’s love, never particularly focusing on the music, though not shying away from big moments in Cash’s career. It’s fascinating because it proves that he was just as human as much of the rest of us, contrary to his stone-faced, man in black persona. His love for Carter tortured him just as much as his struggle with drugs. It’s a vulnerability we don’t often see from such revered figures and it’s a vulnerability that Phoenix nails so well. 

The film also boasts a great cast, featuring Waylon Payne, Robert Patrick, Ginnifer Goodwin, Reese Witherspoon, and Joaquin Phoenix. As I stated above, Phoenix nails the vulnerability and outward personality of Cash, who along with Witherspoon, also did their own singing (which is SUPER impressive). He wears Cash like a suit and channels a man so distinct in appearance and voice to a level that is beyond admirable. Witherspoon is equally terrific in this and adds such a beautiful quality to the story of Johnny and June. 

Walk the Line, directed by James Mangold, accomplishes something special here, letting the performances work with the story and allowing the music to feel as organic and natural as any spoken dialogue, making way for the story of country’s most endearing couple to really take center stage and impact you long after the credits have rolled. 

8.4/10