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Actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Patrick
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Walk the Line |
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Although this film does depict the life of Johnny Cash by showing his addiction to pills, alcohol and women, it focuses more on the passions that drove his music and the pursuit of his future wife who ended up saving his life.
The film starts out with Cash as a young child growing up on a cotton farm in Arkansas and it is evident right away how much music shaped his life.
The young Johnny spends most of his time listening to the radio and reciting hymns, much to the dismay of his father (Robert Patrick), who holds John responsible after his brother is killed in a sawing accident.
As Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) grows up, music is still the thing that is always on his mind. He writes his first song while serving in the Air Force in Germany and as soon as he moves back to the states and marries his first wife, Vivian, he risks being evicted just so he can pursue his dream of being a famous musician.
Cash finally talks Sam Phillips of Sun Records in Memphis, Tenn., into an audition for his band, but in the middle of their first song they are told to stop because the music was tired and had no new meanings.
That is when Cash plays the song he wrote in Germany, "Folsom Prison Blues," and at that point the legend is born.
While touring with famous musicians such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Waylon Jennings, Cash meets June Carter (Reese Witherspoon) and his life starts spinning out of control.
Cash for years continues to pursue Carter to no avail, which helps lead him to a life of booze and pills.
The rest of the film focuses on how Cash handles these hardships and how the woman he loved most helps him get through the hard times.
--Adam Tobias, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Walk the Line |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- musician
Druggie/Wino problems?
- drugs
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- singer/musician
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- obsessed
- emotionally unstable
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Black)
Hair style
- (woman) long wavey
Body type
- (woman) ample bosom & buttocks
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 80%
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
City?
Yes
Farm/Ranch?
Yes
Farm/Ranch:
- farm
- lot of descript of crop raising
Misc setting
- theater
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
If lots of song/dance...
- lot of singing
If soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Country/Western
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Adam Tobias
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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