Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Reece Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Robert Patrick
Directed by James Mangold
Music and Lyrics by Johnny Cash and others
Having explored classic rock legends last month, this week, we're going to dive into the country scene with three of the most beloved performers in country music. This one goes back to Cash and Carter appearing on the TV show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman in 1993. Enamored with film, Cash wanted to get his life story onscreen. Even after a series of interviews in 1997, it wasn't until 2001 when they had a script ready and were able to sell it to Fox. It was a huge hit in 2005, but how does it look now, after many similar music biographies have come and gone? Let's start with Cash (Phoenix) and his legendary concert at Folsom State Prison and find out...
The Story: Johnny grows up in rural Arkansas with his mother Carrie (Shelby Lynne), his abusive father Ray (Patrick), and his sisters and his brother Jack (Lucas Till). After Jack dies in a saw mill accident while Johnny goes fishing, Ray blames his youngest son for his death. Tired of the abuse, Johnny enlists in the Air Force in 1950. He's not much of a pilot, but he does write the song "Folsom Prison Blues" while in West Germany.
After he gets back to the US, he marries his girlfriend Vivian (Goodwin) and gets a job as a door to door salesman after they move to Memphis, Tennessee. He proves to be far more successful when he forms a gospel band, the Tennessee Two, and auditions for Sun Records. They take him after he plays "Folsom Prison Blues." The song is such a success, they send the Two out on tour with legends like Elvis Prestley (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne), giving Johnny his first taste of celebrity.
It also introduces him to June Carter (Witherspoon), a pretty, perky fellow country singer touring with her family. He falls for her right away, but she's a lot warier of him. He starts heavily abusing drugs and alcohol, and Vivian is all too aware of why Johnny keeps insisting on touring with June. He even ends up in prison for six months after a trip to Mexico to pick up more drugs. Vivian's had enough and divorces him, and even June's fed up. Johnny buys a home in Tennessee to be near June, but she's not sure she's ready to put on that "Ring of Fire." Even after Johnny records his famous Folsom Prison album, she keeps turning him down...until he tells her onstage that he can't make music without her.
The Song and Dance: Exemplary performances highlight this tale of rise and redemption through one of the greatest romances in country music. Phoenix and Witherspoon put in pitch-perfect performances as the troubled "Man In Black" and the smart lady who loves him and his music, especially when showing his dark side and drug addiction. That they did their own singing - and very well - adds layers to the authenticity. Patrick is the only one who gets near them as Cash's disapproving father, who never forgave Johnny for the loss of his favored son. Pitch-perfect costumes and sets and James Mangold's dynamic direction beautifully depict the rural Southeast and Nashville in the 50's and 60's.
The Numbers: Our first song is appropriately, Johnny's first song. He first conceives "Folsom Prison Blues" while stationed in West Germany. It's not until that audition for Sun records that we hear the full version. He's attracted to Sun Records after hearing a band play "Don't Leave Me This Way." Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne) shows off his piano dexterity with his "Lewis Boogie" at the tour concert. June fakes laryngitis so Johnny gets a chance to sing "Cry Cry Cry" and impress the audience. Johnny's thrilled when none other than Roy Orbison (Johnathan Rice) sings "You're My Baby." June finally gets onstage with her perky "Jukebox Blues."
Johnny successfully gives the new rock sound a shot with "Rock n' Roll Ruby," which really gets all those girls in the audience moving...but even he can't compare to a young Elvis Prestley (Tyler Hilton) tearing up the stage with "That's All Right." After Johnny's "Home of the Blues," he insists that June join him for "Time's a Waistin'." June protests at first - she recorded it with her ex-husband - but they have so much fun together, soon, even she's into the charming song. The title song provides the backdrop for a montage depicting Johnny's success, his feelings about June, and his buying a house for his family.
June pours her own frustrations with Johnny and her failed relationships into the traditional folk song "Wildwood Flower" at their concert. She joins Johnny for the uptempo Bob Dylan ballad "It Ain't Me, Babe." Johnny's drug habits finally catch up with him when he passes out while performing "Folsom Prison Blues" at Las Vegas. Inspired by her problems with Johnny and their relationship, June writes the classic ballad "Ring of Fire." Realizing that many of his fans are prisoners, Johnny records his classic live album at the real Folsom Prison, dressed all in black and singing "Cocaine Blues." The movie ends with him singing her "Ring of Fire," and insisting that they perform "Jackson" together.
Trivia: Witherspoon won Best Actress at the Oscars. Phoenix was nominated for Best Actor and won a Golden Globe.
What I Don't Like: There's a reason this would later be parodied by Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. This is about as typical of a rise and fall biography as you can get, though the focus on Johnny and June's romance does give it an interesting wrinkle. Most of the other characters aren't around long enough for you to know them like the leads; Goodwin's role as Johnny's first wife, who wants him to focus on family above else, is slightly underwritten.
The Big Finale: If you're a fan of classic country or rock music, Cash and/or Carter, or either of the stars, you owe it to yourself to check out this searing look at how "The Man In Black" met and got together with the true love of his life.
Home Media: Easily available on all formats. I reviewed the extended version, which has an extra 16 minutes of footage.
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