Walk the Line (2005)

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That day kicked off the electrifying early career of Johnny Cash. As he pioneered a fiercely original sound that blazed a trail for rock, country, punk, folk and rap stars to come, Cash began a rough-and-tumble journey of personal transformation. In the most volatile period of his life, he evolved from a self-destructive pop star into the iconic “Man in Black” – facing down his demons, fighting for the love that would raise him up, and learning how to walk the razor-thin line between destruction and

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Behind the Scenes: Read more about the production Introduction Meeting Johnny Cash Casting Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon Going Live The Supporting Cast & The Film's Design About Johnny Cash And June Carter

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External Reviews

A classic example of a made-for-TV bio-picture: Its demographic aim is very broad, and for anyone who knows the genre well, it is classic formula material. C

But what’s infinitely more special about this film is its focus. Your favorite Cash tune may be missed here or there, but you will leave learning a few things about the man and a whole lot of how much love there was in his wounded heart for the beloved June Carter. 

--Erik Childress (eFilmCritic.com)

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Impressively directed by James Mangold, this is a superb biopic that features terrific performances from both Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. 

--Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)

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I'm not sure if she and Joaquin actually did their own singing in the movie but I think I read somewhere that they did. If that is the case, then I am even more amazed by what they accomplished on the screen. If not, well, I'm still pretty damn impressed. Impressed by both the fantastic performances and a very, very solid movie. 8/10

--Brendan Cullin (EmpireMovies.com)

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I will admit to not having been excited about seeing Walk the Line before sitting down to watch it, but Mangold, Phoenix, and Witherspoon converted me. During the course of the picture, someone describes Johnny's voice as being "steady like a train, sharp like a razor." That sounds to me like a fitting description of Walk the Line, as well. 

--James Berardinelli (ReelViews)

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"Walk the Line" follows the story arc of many other musical biopics, maybe because many careers 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. That more or less describes last year's "Ray," but every time we see this story the characters change and so does the music, and that makes it new. 

--Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)

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Nonetheless, the acting and the music are the main attractions here, so if you keep a close watch on your creativity meter, you should have a pretty decent time with Walk the Line. 

--GARY GOLDSTEIN (Reel.com)

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Let's just hope that another difference between the two films is that Phoenix avoid whoring himself out as a professional impersonator the way the Jamie Foxx did following Ray. And if he does, I could almost give this movie another half a star. 

--Annette Cardwell (FilmCritic.com)

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It's a familiar story, the good woman who stands by her man. And it's tantalizing too, suggesting that another, perhaps less typical story might be found in June's life.

--Cynthia Fuchs

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Witherspoon is brilliant. She's always brilliant. She was even wonderful in “Legally Blonde 2” which was otherwise horrid. Everybody else is actually pretty good too. If you like country music, you'll like the film. Even if you don't. 

--Eric Lurio

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“Walk the Line” only tells part of the Cash legend (the film ends in the late 1960s), with a heartbreaking coda (which states that Cash died in 2003 a mere four months after June), hinting that perhaps Mangold was looking in the wrong era to find out what made Johnny Cash tick. 

--Brian Orndorf (eFilmCritic.com)

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The strong performances of Witherspoon and Patrick help support Phoenix’s exceptional portrayal, and together, the trio help elevate this by-the-numbers biopic and transform it into something noteworthy. 'Walk the Line' may be singing the same old song, yet the cast still puts all their effort into hitting the right notes and making the best music they possibly can. 

--William Goss (eFilmCritic.com)

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Directed by

James Mangold Identity, Girl, Interrupted, Cop Land

Written by

Johnny Cash Columbo: Swan Song, A Gunfight, Murder in Coweta County Gill Dennis Return to Oz, Riders of the Purple Sage, On My Own

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix Gladiator, Signs, The Village Reese Witherspoon American Psycho, Cruel Intentions, Pleasantville Robert Patrick Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Die Hard 2, Wayne's World Ginnifer Goodwin Mona Lisa Smile, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, Porn 'n Chicken Dallas Roberts A Home at the End of the World, Winter Passing, The Notorious Bettie Page Dan John Miller Larry Bagby Hocus Pocus, Saints and Soldiers, Church Ball [more]

Phoenix and Witherspoon's performances are the film's greatest strengths, accurate, honest and affecting. But there's the music, too, that distinctive, locomotive style that Cash played so well and that Phoenix imitates with uncanny precision. B --Eric D. Snider (EricDSnider.com) Clearly one of the year's best films, Walk the Line hits hard as a tornado full of drama, humor, music, and chaos. It's large as life -- like Johnny Cash himself. A potential Academy Award winner, it rates five stars and is worthy of multiple viewings. --Geoff Roberts Walk the Line establishes a special bond with viewers and will probably show up on more than a few best-of-year lists. --Betty Jo Tucker "Walk the Line'' has plenty of chemicals, but very little chemistry between its stars. Still, it's all we've got until those two competing biopics about Janis Joplin make it to the screen.  --Bruce Newman Years from now, cinema-studies teachers will refer to Walk the Line as a textbook example of what a biopic looks like when it gets everything right. --Steve Schneider The film sends you home moved and in a tuneful mood. The highest compliment you can pay a movie like "Walk the Line" is one you'd pay to any great romance. Watching these two work their way toward marriage feels like a two-hour honeymoon.  --Wesley Morris (Boston Globe) Mangold's direction is excellent, and the script -- by Mangold and Gil Davis -- captures the complex characters without relying on biopic cliché. --Paul Clinton (CNN Showbiz) There’s no law that a movie can’t tell a good, dramatic story about a troubled musician, but still include wonderful musical numbers (like “Ray”). By not getting a full exposition of Johnny Cash singing the songs that made him a superstar, I left “Walk the Line” feeling deprived and let down. 6/10 --Tony Medley (TonyMedley.com)

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