Walk the Line
Published May 24, 2014
Film info
- Title Walk the Line
- Director James Mangold
- Year 2005
- Run time 2hrs 17m
- Genres Music, Romance, Drama
- Tagline Love is a burning thing
Singer. Rebel. Outlaw. Hero. With his driving freight-train chords, steel-eyed intensity and a voice as dark as the night, the legendary 'Man in Black' revolutionsed music - and forged his legacy as a genuine American icon. Golden Globe winners Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon star (and sing) as Johnny Cash and June Carter in this inspiring true story of one man's unwavering devotion to his sound, his message and the greatest love of his life.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:21 | Uh oh, crows in films always signal something bad. |
| 9:44 | Depressing start to a film. Start as you mean to go on, I guess. |
| 12:28 | You know you live in the middle of nowhere when you have to walk for miles just to get to the bus. |
| 16:02 | Imagine the echo you’d get trying to play in that massive hangar. |
| 21:07 | That one is singing with a cigarette in his mouth… I’m not sure he’s taking it seriously. |
| 26:12 | “It ain’t got nothing to do with believing in God, it’s got to do with believing in yourself.” |
| 29:59 | It’s impressive to rhyme Louisiana with piano. |
| 35:12 | Fifties music is fab. |
| 43:18 | “They ain’t even fifteen and they’re sending pictures of themselves in bathing suits.” That’s the fifties version of sexting, right there. |
| 44:42 | The wife is awful. |
| 45:24 | There’s so much wrong with that question: “Where was it we just was?” |
| 58:01 | Don’t think I’ll ever see the appeal of fishing. |
| 1:02:17 | I know Joaquin will do anything for his art but that whack of head against wall must have been concussion-worthy. |
| 1:07:28 | Hammock! |
| 1:17:16 | It’s one-sided, based on his autobiography and all, but June is so much nicer than the wife. |
| 1:26:47 | She came up with the fire song?? That’s the only one I actually know. |
| 1:34:05 | Forgive the wife a little bit now. |
| 1:39:37 | He stumbled across a house, literally, and bought it. That’s rich. |
| 1:45:18 | “I never had talent, I did the best I could with what I had. Can you say that?” |
| 1:54:11 | Weird seeing letters from prison that aren’t all censored. |
| 2:00:21 | Loving the tour bus that’s just a bus. |
| 2:02:24 | “No, that stuff won’t work itself out. People work it out and you just think it works itself out.” |
| 2:09:07 | He can celebrate her saying yes all he likes, but she was kinda cooerced into that. |
Conclusions
This was another film that follows an autobiography, like Mandela, and sticks to it to the letter, showing the character up for all their faults. And it seemed like Mr Cash had a lot of faults.
I don’t really know of him, as the credits were starting Mr C asked and I said: “Is he the ring of fire one?” Which explains what level we’re working with here.
There were only two moments where I really felt touched by his plight - when he forgot his kid’s birthday, and when his dad was so awful to him at Thanksgiving. Otherwise, he didn’t seem too nice a guy. And the poor first wife came across as a right cow.
It did teach me some things, like that June wrote the only song of his I know, and that he did the epic prison recording without much approval from his label. A good film but for me, it was full of revelations of the wrong kind.
Rating: 3/5
Rating: 3 / 5