Walk The Line Fresh Or Stale? *May Contain Spoilers*

[The Freshness]

As Jon Stewart referred to it "The 'Ray' for white people". Furiated Cinemas had a full house this evening, The Staleness, Amber, John, Michelle and Myself. Amber and I were the only people present who had seen this movie previously. This was the fourth time I have seen it, twice in the theater and now twice on DVD. Also, I recently read the autobiography Cash.

The movie is about the life of Johnny Cash, from his early years to shortly after his concert at Folsom Prison. It is interesting to see the musicians that he performed with early in his career; Elvis, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis to name a few. Joaquin Phoenix plays the man in black. Reese Witherspoon won the Oscar for her portrayal of June Carter. Both actors performed the songs, much like Val Kilmer in The Doors.

[The Staleness]

Rob Gordon: Hey, I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm certainly not the dumbest. I mean, I've read books like "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and "Love in the Time of Cholera", and I think I've understood them. They're about girls, right? Just kidding. But I have to say my all-time favorite book is Johnny Cash's autobiography "Cash" by Johnny Cash.


I had not previously seen this movie; this, like Ray, seemed to me like movies that I would like if I saw them, but created no great desire in me to go out of my way to see them. Probably because the two artists in question were not anyone I especially liked musically, but not anyone I disliked either.

I liked Walk the Line, I thought Joaquin Phoenix was really good as Johnny Cash, and while Reese was good as June, I didn’t think she was Best Actress good. Robert Patric was great as the elder Cash always giving Johnny a hard time. While I did like the movie, it really only covers a small portion of the life of Johnny Cash, and even the portion it covers, for the sake of time has to skip over a lot of details. From when he is recording his first record with his band, it then leaps to him as a successful recording artist, you never really see the success building and popularity growing.

[The Verdict]

[The Freshness] I myself found this movie to be quite Fresh. I still find it odd that Waylon Jennings is played by his son Shooter Jennings. Not odd to some I am sure, just made me chuckle is all. I also enjoy the song "I'm a long way from home" performed by Shooter acting as Waylon. Good song.

[The Staleness] Definitely a good film, and a very insightful glimpse into the life of Johnny Cash, and what shaped and molded him into the Man in Black. Add in that the actors did their own performances of the songs featured, and quite well at that, and you can’t help but walk away thinking this is a Fresh movie.