From seeing ‘Capote’ to then seeing the ‘Walk The Line’, the story of American country music legend, Johnny Cash. As one would expect, the story of a popular music legend is a very different one from the story of a literary great.
There were many parts to the Cash story. Cash had a difficult childhood and contended with a negative, abusive father. As a young boy he lost his older brother who died in a tragic accident. For Cash, in his late teens, it was a blessing that he had to leave home, and was called up for military service, serving in the Air Force in Germany.
The film showed that music was in Cash’s blood from early on, and together with a bit of a luck, his good looks and an iron will, a successful career in music was always within reach.
Cash fought a struggle, very common to musicians, with alcohol and drugs. His weakness was for speed, and as his career climbed, the problems with substance abuse escalated.
The most important part of the Cash story was the love story. From their first meeting there was chemistry between Cash and June Carter, herself a legendary figure on the country music scene. The course of true love never runs smooth, and this was clearly the case with this couple who took a long time to commit.
The film’s lasting impression of the Man in Black was that he was a gritty character with a big heart. One of Cash’s most popular records came out of a show he put on at Fulsom prison, as a result of a large amount of fan mail received from inmates incarcerated there. There was a revealing exchange where a warden said to Cash, ‘Mr Cash, please refrain from singing songs that will remind inmates that they are in prison to which Cash’s straightforward reply was, ‘You think they would forget’.
This James Mangold film was a highly accomplished film and an intelligent, respectful tribute to Cash. Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter gave fine performances. The supporting cast was strong too, and doubtless actors the like of Tyler Hilton as Elvis Presley, enjoyed the chance to play some of the icons of popular music.