Walk the Line

Christian Movie Review

In Walk the Line the life of Johnny Cash reveals the incredible loss and the danger of drifting from the path of God, and just how tough the road back can be. It highlights Cash's finest hours of fame and underlines his darkest hours of personal failure. Recording a truly human struggle, the film demonstrates that even in the lowest depth, God offers a second chance, a path to make things right.

• Genre: Bio; Drama; Musical
• DVD Release: February 28, 2006
• Film Release: November 18, 2005
• Rated: PG-13
• Distributed by: Twentieth Century Fox
• Director: James Mangold
• Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (Johnny Cash), Reese Witherspoon (June Carter), Shelby Lynne (Johnny's mother), Waylon Payne (Jerry Lee Lewis), Shooter Jennings (Waylon Jennings), Tyler Hilton (Elvis Presley), Robert Patrick (Ray Cash), Ginnifer Goodwin (Vivian Loberto)
• Writers: James Mangold, Gill Dennis
• Producer: Cathy Konrad, James Keach

Walk the Line, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, chronicles the emergence of a unique American music artist in this story of Cash's early career and ardent romance with June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). Based on Cash's books, Man in Black, and Cash: The Autobiography, and developed over a period of 7 years with Johnny and June Carter Cash, prior to their deaths in 2003, the film traces Cash's journey of personal transformation. Capturing the spirit and original sound of the music that energized their relationship, both Phoenix and Witherspoon not only act, but sing every note of their roles.

The heroes of this story are not perfect, but they are real. They reveal human frailties that come from the fallen state we are born into, the struggles with sin and the natural man, and the faith that calls us to be what God created us to be. Joaquin Phoenix, paints a profound portrait of Cash's deeply wounded soul, the inner conflicts he endures, the decisions that result in more pain, the temptations and pressures of fame, and the unconditional love that brings him back to the faith that lured yet eluded him.

June Carter, played by Reese Witherspoon, falls in love with Johnny Cash, but it goes beyond romantic love. Her faith, and the true Christian character of her family, give her the insight to see Cash's need for tough, life transforming love. June is not perfect either, but her strength is profound. Even in the face of cold hypocrisy and painful judgment, she doesn't lash out.

The music is gutsy, authentic, "steady like a train, sharp like a razor." It surrounded and conveyed me right into the emotion of the moment.

There is no nudity or graphic sexual scenes, however, Cash engages in several immoral affairs while touring, including one with June Carter. As a redeeming point, June refuses to continue the infidelity and insists on maintaining physical distance until years later when they marry.

Violence:

There are at least three violent scenes showing Cash's self-destructive moments, some on stage, some alone. He smashes furniture and equipment and does harm to himself. A fight with his wife escalates into a physically abusive struggle observed by their children. While Johnny's brother is dying, the bloody clothes and bandages suggest the horrible violence of the accident that took his life.

Language:

There are two to three uses of each of the following words: d**nit, h**l, a**, s**t, and f**king.

Drug and Alcohol:

Drinking, smoking and drug abuse is practiced in abundance. However, the destructive nature of these behaviors is also demonstrated.

"This is a story very few people know," said the film's director, James Mangold, who decided to tell the most dramatic, transformational and least known parts of Cash's story - the years spanning his physically and emotionally impoverished childhood, his wild rise to fame, his near fall from grace, and his self-transformation into a legendary hero.

In a way, Johnny Cash had a prison ministry before he ever knew it. The inner battles he sang about in his songs touched something deep within the souls of prisoners and inmates, causing them to identify with Cash's music. The opening and near closing scenes, depicting his famous Folsom prison concert of 1968, reveal a sense of destiny, the call of God that guided Cash's life. Though it was a tangled, messy and complicated path, he walked the sometimes jagged line toward salvation, proving that anyone can find forgiveness and peace with God.

"How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man."
-- Johnny Cash