Walk The Line

—1. Overview (multimedia)
—2. Overview Basic (dial up speed)
—3. Reviews and Blogs
—4. Cast and Crew
—5. Photo Pages
—6. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—7. Posters (Joaquin Phoenix)
—8. Production Notes (pdf)
—9. Spiritual Connections
—10. Presentation Downloads

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For…I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord,… When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
(Selections from Matthew 25)

Walk the Line frames itself around a pivotal moment in Johnny Cash’s career, a performance at Folsom Prison. When the film starts we see the powerful reaction of the prisoners to Cash’s music. Soon after director James Mangold brings us to Johnny’s early years and leads us through the events that brought him to this place.

This reviewer entered the theater knowing very little, admittedly, about Johnny Cash other than enjoying some of his songs. Cash is also practically worshipped by many of my friends. So I looked forward to this film from the first trailer I saw. Yet even as an uninitiated Cash fan, I took away much to chew on concerning his impact on the world.

More than anything this film told the story of Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) and the love of his life June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). And yet the most engaging aspects of this film take place as life is happening to both of these people. The long road that leads them towards each other as husband and wife provides the framework for this film. We watch as Cash lives a strikingly “real� life, he struggles after returning home from his military service. He has a hard married life. He has a few songs up his sleeve and a desire to bring his music to the world. When he finds success he also finds himself hooked on illegal pills and slipping far from his roots as a God-fearing gospel musician.

Yet Cash is able to bounce back from the brink of his addiction with the help of the Carter family (here playing the hands and feet of Christ). June and her parents see just how lost Johnny has become and they pull up their sleeves and stick by him as he kicks his addiction and gets his life back on track. A humorous and powerful visual from the film involves the Carters chasing away Cash’s dealer by greeting him with shotguns!

Immediately upon returning from the brink, June brings Johnny to church. And it is not long after this that Cash decides to bring his music to the people who need it most, the down-trodden. Knowing very little about the real Johnny Cash, I can’t say for sure exactly how Johnny related to His Lord, nor can I assume his reasons for playing live in Folsom Prison. Yet James Mangold, in framing his film around this concert, shows us a Johnny Cash who lived out the gospel in a unique way. He, like all of us, fell short of the glory of God often in his life. And yet in his recovery from drug addiction, and in his desire to serve those prisoners, he lived out the message of Matthew 25. He visited prisoners and in doing so served Christ in his own unique way, which was apparently the only way Cash knew how to live.

— Overview