Best movie of this year hands down!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

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.

Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies authored by singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The film follows Cash's early life, his romance with June Carter, and his ascent to the country music scene. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as Cash, Reese Witherspoon as Carter, Ginnifer Goodwin as Vivian Liberto, and Robert Patrick as Cash's father. The film was nominated for five Oscars at the 78th Academy Awards, including Best Actor (Phoenix), Best Actress (Witherspoon, which she won), and Best Costume Design (Arianne Phillips). The film grossed more than $186 million worldwide. I knew a lot about Johnny Cash before watching the movie. It was really helpful. A very famous musician and singer of the second half of the XX century played a key role in the development of music. That is why I was impressed by the Phoenix's acting. For those who knew Johnny Cash before it was the great impersonation. Joaquin Phoenix performs songs himself. These songs were like Cash's performance. Manners, gestures, movements, a reprimand, a smile, and even the way he holds the guitar in his hands are like a reflection in the mirror of Cache. But what really surprised me was that he did not get an Oscar for this movie. As for Reese Witherspoon, I absolutely do not like her as an actress. I cannot understand her absolutely. But nevertheless she looked quite believable. But the reason for what she was given an Oscar does not clear for me. In generally I saw the film with pleasure. It is simple, but at the same time is quite cute. Music which were played during the movie immersed in the life of that musical era. In addition, I was very pleased with the accuracy of the plot to the very biography of the singer. It is noteworthy that I watched it on February 26, the birthday of the singer. There was some magic in this fact. In general, the movie is very good. 8/10

"Walking the line" - a movie that can be worth watching not only for those who are interested in John Cash's life, but also for those who enjoy stories of "finding one's own path". Though, I would think twice before recommending it to a sophisticated film-lover. The following is just my personal opinion.What is great about the movie: 1) Always topical themes of love, marriage, creative work, choosing your own path. As the movie shows John Cash's experience in life, the viewers can think about their own life and make their own conclusions from it. 2) The development of John Cash's personal tragedy. The movie shows quite plausibly how the main character managed to rise after falling down so meanly and it can be really inspiring for those who want to see someone's good example. 3) Music. Music is a central theme in this movie. The performances shown in the movie made the story brighter, of course. And it is always great when the actors perform their music parts by themselves, adding their personal attitude, devotion, passion to this music. And music also contributed really much to the atmosphere of that time. 4) Acting. Of course, actors were great, especially the leading ones.5) Dialogues. Sometimes the dialogues contribute very much to the message of the movie, express some ideas without which the movie would lack much. "If you were hit by a truck and you had time to sing only one song. One song that people would remember before you're dirt. One song that would let God know how you felt about your time here on Earth. One song that would sum you up. What would you sing?" Weak points of the movie: 1) Shallow plot and message. Despite all the merits of the movie, for me it seems quite superficial. The plot is able to enthrall you while you are watching the movie, but after it you realize there is nothing to be thinking about at least during the rest of the day. For me the characters lack some deep psychological drama that would make the story more unusual, surprising. Maybe this is because of the biographical genre of the movie that makes the story too down-to-earth. 2) The style of the movie seems quite neutral. The movie is shot as if just for everybody to find something to like about it, and this makes the movie a bit trivial. It lacks some individuality.3) Trite characters. This comes from all I said above. Especially it seems true about the female characters. The opposition between a loving, inspiring lover and a dissatisfied, disappointed wife was quite predictable and evident.That's why I make a conclusion that this is an interesting biography from which we all can get some lesson, but the genre of the biography makes its impact: sometimes the story seems shallow and trite.7 out of 10

Walk the Line is Cash's story. It captures Johnny's life from his first record up until his marriage to the woman he's spend the last 35 years of his life with, June Carter. Because of that, this isn't just a movie about Johnny Cash, this is both of their stories, his and June's. After watching this film I discovered Johnny Cash, a singer with a difficult destiny, but with brilliant lyrics, despite their fun and cheerfulness, with a piece of history from the very uneasy and eventful life of Cash. The plot tells about the life of Johnny, about his uneasy childhood, in which he lost his wonderful brother Jake, about his difficult youth and a difficult relationship with his father and his first wife, Vivian, who gave Johnny two daughters. Very cool shows serious experiences, because of which the popular singer began to take drugs and in serious quantities to consume alcohol. Also Johnny Cash was a very patient person, able to wait all his life for the girl of his dreams, singer June Carter. Very good actors. Joaquin Phoenix brilliantly played the role of Cash, having managed to completely reincarnate in the famous singer and even he himself sang all the songs, if I did not know about it, I would think that instead of Joaquin's voice, a phonogram sounds. Great played Reese Witherspoon, which I really love. The role of June Carter, Reese performed gorgeously, deservedly received her "Oscar". Jennifer Goodwin looked great, who played the role of Vivian Cash. . Gorgeously selected songs like, "I Walk The Line", "Cry, Cry, Cry", "Ring of Fire" and a single, performed by a duet with June Carter called "Jackson", which is a benchmark in the genre of country music.