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Johnny Cash is one of only two musicians
inducted into both the Rock ‘n’ Roll and
Country halls of fame. The other was his
buddy Elvis Presley. There’s little we
don’t’ know about Elvis. However,
mention Johnny Cash’s name and a lot of
people draw a blank. At best they may
recall a couple of his songs, like
Ring of Fire or
Folsom Prison Blues.
But ask if they know anything about his
life before June Carter and few will
recall a single insightful fact, myself
included.
Director James Mangold decided to right
the collective Hollywood snub of this
insecure man who never saw himself as a
legend. Mangold based Walk the
Line on two of Cash’s own books,
Man in Black and
Cash: The Autobiography,
and interviews with Johnny and June
Carter Cash before they both died in
2003.
Johnny’s career spanned five decades and
consequently it’s impossible to capture
the essence of who he really was in just
two hours. Therefore, Mangold carefully
selected four poignant moments in Cash’s
life, beginning with his impoverished
Depression-era childhood in rural
Arkansas and ending with his marriage to
country legend June Carter in 1968.
The other two memorable scenes cover his
instant rise to fame and eventual fall
from grace due to alcohol and
amphetamines.
Joaquin Phoenix plays Cash and pulls it
off in convincing fashion. Phoenix not
only looks like Cash when he was young
but sounds just like him expertly
imitating Johhny’s deep baritone voice
without lip-syncing.
Phoenix actually sings all of Cash’s
songs flawlessly while slinging his
guitar around and pointing it at the
audience, a trademark of the rock ‘n’
roll legend. The only odd thing is he
never seems to age.
Director Mangold struck gold casting
Phoenix for this role. Phoenix’s subdued
personality is perfectly suited for the
gloomy, lost-in-the-woods look Cash was
noted for.
And, J.R., Johnny Cash’s nickname, had
reason to feel gloomy. During his
childhood his older brother died in a
sawmill accident while attempting to
earn money for the family and J.R.’s
alcoholic father blamed J.R. for his
favorite son’s death.
Poverty, guilt from his brother’s death
and rejection from his father are a few
of the demons that haunted Cash
throughout his life.
Unfortunately, the film doesn’t linger
very long during Cash’s formative years
and we never really get to know what
makes him tick or where he found his
inspiration to make music. One sign of a
good film is it leaves you wanting more,
which Walk the Line does.
After a stint in the Air Force, Cash
marries his first wife (played by Vivian
Liberto) and moves to Memphis in 1955.
While there, he impresses Sam Phillips
of Sun Records, the same record label
that just signed up Elvis Presley.
Cash cuts a record with his hit
Folsum Prison Blues
and his career takes off like a rocket.
He hits the road with Elvis, Jerry Lee
Lewis, Roy Orbison and his new best
friend June Carter (played by Reese
Witherspoon). Imagine what it must have
been like for the bus driver!
This group of musical vagabonds created
rock ‘n’ roll history traveling from
Canada to Mexico, performing 300 shows
in a year. Life on the road took its
toll on Cash and he resorted to
amphetamines to stay awake and maintain
his energy level during performances.
From here, the movie morphs into the
John-and-June show. The love story
between the two and their relationship
on the road dominates the second half of
the film.
Witherspoon is quick as a whip and witty
as the no-nonsense Carter. She sings
every note of every song, including the
song Ring of Fire
which June Carter co-wrote claiming the
lyrics described her awkward
relationship with Cash before they
married.
While Johnny and June shared the stage
together, it took 10 years before they
tied the knot. The fact that both were
married to other spouses at the time was
part of the reason. However, the main
barrier was Cash’s addiction to drugs
and alcohol. When he was arrested in
1965 for possession, he hit rock bottom
and June eventually picked him up,
weaned him off the stuff and was
instrumental, so to speak, in his career
comeback in 1968 with his famous,
unforgettable concert at Folsom Prison.
Performances by Phoenix and Witherspoon
deserve high praise and will probably be
rewarded with Oscar nominations next
year.
In fact Phoenix was so good, I wouldn’t
be surprised if he played Vegas this
Christmas and opened his act with the
words “Hi, I’m Johnny Cash,” and its
“burn, burn, burn…in a ring of fire, in
a ring of fire.” |
