Walk the Line (2005)
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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 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 historic Folsom Prison Concert. The film touches on his childhood, relating a horrific early incident from his life and establishing the troubled relationship he would have with his father (Robert Patrick). Cash joins the military and leaves home. During his time in the armed services he begins writing songs and romances a hometown girl (Ginnifer Goodwin). After the end of his duty he settles down and attempts to begin a music career, but his wife has trouble adjusting to his dreams. Cash auditions for Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts), signs to Sun Records, and soon finds himself on tour with a roster of young soon-to-be legends that includes Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Malloy Payne). On this tour he meets June Carter, the daughter of the famous Carter family, and they take a liking to each other, although she refuses any serious advances from him. Cash gains world-wide fame thanks in part to the inspiration he gets from June, but eventually his marriage crumbles and he develops a serious drug addiction. The film is based on Cash's autobiographies. Phoenix and Witherspoon performed all of their own singing in the movie, just as Sissy Spacek and Beverly D'Angelo did in Coal Miner's Daughter a quarter-century before. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Directed By
- James Mangold
- Written By
- Gill Dennis
- Genres
- Drama
- In Theaters
- Nov 18, 2005 Wide
- On DVD
- Feb 28, 2006
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox
Critic Reviews
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Mike Clark, USA Today
A Johnny Cash biopic equally packed with music and frustrated love, Walk the Line goes from compelling to enthralling.
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)
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Cast
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Joaquin Phoenix
as Johnny Cash
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Reese Witherspoon
as June Carter
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Ginnifer Goodwin
as Vivian Cash
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Robert Patrick
as Ray Cash
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Dallas Roberts
as Sam Phillips
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Dan John Miller
as Luther Perkins
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Larry Bagby III
as Marshall Grant
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Shelby Lynne
as Carrie Cash
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Tyler Hilton
as Elvis Presley
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Waylon Payne
as Jerry Lee Lewis
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Shooter Jennings
as Waylon Jennings
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Natalie Canerday
as Lady in the Aisle
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Rhoda Griffis
as Five and Dime Manager
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Sandra Ellis Lafferty
as Maybelle Carter
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James Keach
as Warden
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Jeff Bailey
as El Paso Taxi Driver
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Tim Ware
as A&R Man #1
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Bob King
as Armory Stage Manager
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Al Gardner
as Texarkana Stage Manager
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J. Alan Scott
as Dyess Doctor
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Danny Beene
as Ezra Carter
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J.D. Evermore
as F.B.I. Man
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Hailey Anne Nelson
as Roseanne Cash
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James DeForest Parker
as Inmate
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Lucas Till
as Young Jack Cash
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Deborah Rawlings
as Diner Waitress
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Johnny Holiday
as Carl Perkins
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Clay Steakley
as W.S. "Fluke" Holland
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Ridge Canipe
as Young J.R.
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Dolan Wilson
as A&R Man #2
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Kerris Dorsey
as Kathy Cash
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Johnathan Rice
as Roy Orbison
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Carly Nahon
as Young Reba Cash
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McGhee Monteith
as Reba Cash
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Wyatt Entrein
as Tommy Cash (5)
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Delaney Marie Keefe
as Cindy Cash
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Victoria Hester
as Carlene Carter
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Davielle Boyce
as Maid at Door
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Danny Vinson
as Texarkana MC
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Dave McPhail
as Armory MC
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Ross Harkins
as Record Executive
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Helen Ingebritsen
as Bank Teller
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J.W. Williams
as Pill Man
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Shane Bowen
as Jr's Agent
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Clare Johnson
as Lissome Girl
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Michael Ingersoll
as Donzil
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Carter Thrower
as Sheriff
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Jean-Paul McNeely
as Musician
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Brian Deas
as NCO
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Glenda Pannell
as Neighbor Woman
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Amy Kudela
as Wanda
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Tracee Miller
as Birdie Perkins
- Larry Bagby








