Walk the Line

Walk the Line (2005)

  • 82% of critics liked it
    (203 reviews)

  • 86% of users liked it
    (514,629 ratings)

James Mangold's Walk the Line tells the life story of country music legend Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix), focusing primarily on the long courtship he had with June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). The film is structured as an extended flashback opening with Cash readying to take the stage at his… More

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PG-13,
Directed By
Written By
Gill Dennis
Genres
Drama
In Theaters
Nov 18, 2005 Wide
20th Century Fox

Critic Reviews

  • Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

    I advise you catch up with Walk the Line, if only for Ms. Witherspoon's transcendent joyousness as a still-growing legend within a legend.

  • Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

    Mangold was wisely generous with the amount of musical performance he included in the film, and the later scenes -- showing Cash and Carter as partners -- are so well shot and edited, they defy you to sit still.

  • Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

    If Walk the Line isn't the full story of Johnny Cash, it's at least a crucial corner of it, a way of coaxing a legend down to a human scale, without shrinking that legend away to nothingness.

  • Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald

    Phoenix is terrific in Walk the Line - - the actor's taciturn, brooding persona dovetails beautifully with the role - - but it's his scenes opposite Witherspoon that give the movie its real spark.

  • Mike Clark, USA Today

    A Johnny Cash biopic equally packed with music and frustrated love, Walk the Line goes from compelling to enthralling.

Read all 16 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Red L


    Assuming the movie is an accurate portrayal of Johnny Cash, it is worth watching just to learn move about the music legend. The only problem is that Joaquin Phoenix can't really sing, but then neither could Mr. Cash.

  • Emil K


    Such a wooden and artificial effort to capture the life of Johnny Cash in film. Poor Joaquin Phoenix tries way too hard to get all Cash's manners right but ends up looking like lame parody of Cash. This is all familiar biography stuff from beginning to a end with a story of poor… More

  • Graham J


    Better than most biopics and superbly acted by the leads.

  • Jameson W


    Roger Ebert said this about the film and I completely agree with him: "The music is great, the drama is great, the writing is great, the performances are great, I love it!" Joaquin Phoenix gives a brilliant performance as Johnny Cash, and Reese Witherspoon gives the… More

  • familiar s


    Musicals are not my cup of tea, but I decided to give it a go for it's based on real life. As expected, the movie turned out to be a disappointment. Thanks to my holy ignorance, I'd not heard of the protagonist ever before, but his story seemed familiar. It was like watching… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

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