Johnny Cash sang like he meant business. He didn't get fancy and he didn't send his voice on missions it could not complete, but there was an urgency in his best songs that pounded them home. When he sang something, it stayed sung. James Mangold's "Walk the Line," with its dead-on performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, helps you understand that quality. Here was a man who was blamed by his hard-drinking father for the death of his older brother, who said God "took the wrong son," who looked at Johnny's big new house and all he could say was, "Jack Benny's is bigger." In the movie you sense that the drive behind a Johnny Cash song was defiance. He was going to sing it no matter what anybody thought - especially his old man. The movie shows John R. Cash inventing himself. He came from a hard-working Arkansas family and grew up listening to country music on the radio, especially the Carter Family. He wrote his first song while he was serving in the Air Force in Germany. When he came back to the States, he got married and got a regular job but dreamed about being a recording artist. When his first wife, Vivian, complained he was spending more time on music than on her, he referred to his "band" and she said, "your band is two mechanics who can't even hardly play." "Walk the Line" follows the story arc of many other musicals, maybe because many core lines are the same: Hard times, obscurity, success, stardom, too much money, romantic adventures, drugs or booze, and then (if they survive) beating the addiction, finding love and reaching a more lasting stardom. What adds boundless energy to "Walk the Line" is the performance by Reese Witherspoon as June Carter Cash. We're told in the movie that June learned to be funny onstage because she didn't think she had a good voice; by the time John meets her she's been a pro since the age of 4, and effortlessly moves back and forth between her goofy onstage persona and her real personality, which is sane and thoughtful, despite her knack for hitching up with the wrong men. The film's most harrowing scene shows Johnny onstage after an overdose, his face distorted by pain and anger, looking almost satanic before he collapses. What is most fearsome is not even his collapse, but the force of his will, which makes him try to perform when he is clearly unable to. You would not want to get in the way of that determination. When Cash is finally busted and spends some time in jail, his father is dependably laconic: "Now you won't have to work so hard to make people think you been to jail." Although Cash's father (played with merciless aim by Robert Patrick) eventually does sober up, the family that saves him is June's. It is by now well known that Phoenix and Witherspoon perform their own vocals in the movie. It was not well known when the movie previewed - at least not by me. The problems with this film are minor, two in particular immediately come to mind. The pace of this film is so fast you find yourself wondering at times whether you have missed something. Time flies by in this film and it is sometimes hard to keep track of what state Cash's life is in now, or how famous he is today compared with the last scene. The pace is so speedy that it gets to the point where if there was a caption which read "one year later" at the beginning of this scene, you could count on there being the same caption at the beginning of the next one. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Walk The Line is how average the film is at it's core. The base elements of the film are a fairly standard re-tread of virtually every rock & roll docu-drama film ever made from The Doors to infinity; drugs are used, people are hurt, lives are in chaos; all this we have seen before. What makes Walk The Line remarkable is how it takes something average and enhances just about every aspect of it to the point where you begin to forget how average the core of the film really is. The performances, the music, the cinematography, the script, all are distinctly sharper and better than any film of this kind than I have ever seen, though they had virtually nothing new to work with. I highly recommend this film. Go for the story, but stay for the outstanding performances.

Throughout the film, I saw, I heard and I felt this amazing madness of music. I really saw it and felt it, because the scenery was bathed in music, the characters were wrapped in its train, all this history was mixed up on it. The dynamics of rock 'n' roll was replaced by the thoughtfulness of the blues and the rolling of country music. And in all this there was the meaning of the narrative love story, which at that time saved the singer.This is a biographical film about Johnny Cash, one of the most recognized singers and composers in his time, whose oeuvre was in the years glorified by the Great Elvis, and no less famous Karl Perkinson. But it was Johnny Cash who was recognized as a country icon. A mutually beneficial contract with Columbia Records brings success to him . In these years, the singer and composer has considerable problems: drugs and alcohol.The film shows the time when Johnny Cash, on tour, meets with June Carter, and with her he continues his performances. Being married, he falls in love with this woman. 10 years, this love is struggling with his attachments, and, at last, wins.It is impossible to tear your eyes from the actors. Charismatic Joaquin Phoenix, whose gaze attracts, makes you forget and admire, and the phenomenal Reese Witherspoon, who, like a jewel, shines on and off the stage. I did not expect such a frank, strong, naked game. This is the only biographical film I've watched 2 times and which has such a great impact on me. If you want to immerse yourself in the amazing music of the 60's, watch the struggle of love and hate, and want to see a happy ending, then this is that film, that you must obligatory watch.

Walk the line is a wonderful movie which shows the story of life of a young talented musician. It also shows a story about the path in life which everybody choses himself. The protagonist was talented when he was a child, but didn't have a chance to practice his skills. At first the main character led ordinary life but he felt just he needed music. Finally, when he got such an opportunity. he plunged with his head and shoulders in the beautiful world of art and music. People say that show business changes people. Did it changed John's life or this side was always hidden in his inner world? Reese Witherspoon perfectly suits this movie. Her play is magnificent and her character June is stunning. She is a nice, easy-going girl who wants to sing but minds her principles. As for music in the movie, I am not keen of musicals but here it is really matching. All the songs in the movie are incredibly rousing. So, I really advice music-lovers with good taste to watch it. I was esthetically happy. To walk the line means to choose another path, find one's way in life or otherwise loose it. One might cross a thin line which separates good and bad. This is my vision of the main idea. It also encloses the topic of priorities. How to make the right choice? How to decide what is more important: family or work of life? All these questions are posed in this movie and we, the audience, are to answer them to ourselves.

This film describes the time when rock 'n' roll was a new trend in music. The author was able to accurately convey the atmosphere of that time. The film reveals the history of not only the musical path, but also the history of child-parent relations and how they affected in adult life. Songs Joni Kesch wrote from the experiences of life. The film is collected from the most significant moments of the singer's life. At an early age, strict education of the father and the tragic death of his brother. Further service in the army, the first wife and the beginning of creative activity. Getting acquainted with June Carter became a turning point for the singer both in his personal life and in his work, they start touring together and they have a romance. Then the black strip of Kesh's life is shown, this is the departure of the first wife with the child, the drug addiction of the singer and how Jun Carter and his family help get rid of it. The ending of the film was the moment when the beloved agrees to become his wife. The singer had to wait for a positive response for ten years. The film is at least a long one, but I liked it thanks to the actors' play.