A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Pres... Read allA chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 45 wins & 48 nominations total
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- (as Waylon Malloy Payne)
- Carl Perkins
- (as Johnny Holiday)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Johnny Cash wakes up on the tour bus, just after the Folsom Prison performance, he walks past guitarist Luther Perkins, who is passed out with a lit cigarette in his mouth, and puts the cigarette out. Perkins died a few months after the "At Folsom Prison" recording and performance. He fell asleep in his Tennessee house with a lit cigarette in his mouth, and died from injuries sustained in the resulting fire.
- GoofsJohnny is shown touring with Elvis, Jerry Lee, and June for Sun Records early in the movie. In fact this could not have happened. By the time Jerry Lee Lewis was signed to Sun Records. Elvis Presley was already recording for RCA, and touring on his own.
- Quotes
[after record producer Sam Phillips stops Cash's band a couple of verses into their audition]
Sam Phillips: You know exactly what I'm telling you. We've already heard that song a hundred times. Just like that. Just... like... how... you... sing it.
Johnny Cash: Well you didn't let us bring it home.
Sam Phillips: Bring... bring it home? All right, let's bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that gutter dying, and you had time to sing *one* song. Huh? 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. You tellin' me that's the song you'd sing? That same Jimmy Davis tune we hear on the radio all day, about your peace within, and how it's real, and how you're gonna shout it? Or... would you sing somethin' different. Somethin' real. Somethin' *you* felt. Cause I'm telling you right now, that's the kind of song people want to hear. That's the kind of song that truly saves people. It ain't got nothin to do with believin' in God, Mr. Cash. It has to do with believin' in yourself.
Johnny Cash: [after a pause] I got a couple of songs I wrote in the Air Force. You got anything against the Air Force?
Sam Phillips: No.
Johnny Cash: I do.
- Crazy creditsIn the opening credits, Robert Patrick's name appears to pass through the prison bars, like his T-1000 character did in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
- Alternate versionsOriginally released on DVD in its theatrical incarnation. An extended cut, adding about 16 minutes worth of additional footage into the movie, was released later on. The French Blu-Ray version contains the extended cut, while the American version contains the theatrical version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in HBO First Look: Walk the Line (2005)
- SoundtracksCocaine Blues
aka "Transfusion Blues"
Written by Red Arnall (as T.J. Arnall)
Performed by Joaquin Phoenix
This romantic tragedy, which is based on the autobiographies of Johnny Cash The Man in Black and Cash: the Autobiography was actually written and perfected alongside the famous duo Cash and June Carter Cash before their deaths in 2003.
The movie begins with a young, music obsessed "J.R." Cash growing up in a poor cotton farming family in Arkansas. Shortly afterwards, a family tragedy changes his life forever.
Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) leaves for the air force, where he is stationed in Germany, buys an old guitar and proceeds to write one of the most recorded songs in history along with many others.
Upon returning, Cash's obsession leads him to a recording studio and into the spotlight with June Carter (Reese Witherspoon) as well as Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and the comical Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne.) The next emotional hour and 45 minutes is filled with great music, drug dependency, infidelity, and most of all love.
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, who sang every song themselves, completely shined in this movie. There are no better actors that could have filled the shoes of the Carter-Cash duo. Phoenix and Witherspoon had such great chemistry, by the end of the movie you actually think they might really be in love.
However, if you tend to get restless in longer movies, the running time of 136 minutes can start to seem a little long towards the end, but it's well worth it.
Overall Walk the Line receives nine out of ten stars. The movie did an excellent job portraying the life of the "man in black," his soul mate and their rocky path on the way to love. If Phoenix and Witherspoon are not nominated for their amazing voices and chilling performances, it will be a great disappointment.
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Johnny & June: Pasión y locura
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $28,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $119,519,402
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $22,347,341
- Nov 20, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $186,797,986
- Runtime2 hours 16 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1