Unflattering portrayal of a music legend. Then again, any movie that features a pretty lady who plays the autoharp can't be bad.

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2005)

Any movie that features a pretty lady (Ms. Reese Witherspoon) who sings dances and plays an autoharp can't be bad. I'm changing my rating of this movie to 9.
Once again, Hollywood offers another slanted and distorted movie bio of a public figure, this time Johnny Cash, focusing on his personal problems for the sake of grabbing the audience's attention. Yes, Johnny Cash had a lot of personal problems - early in his life. Okay ... so what? Why focus on that? Why not focus instead on the fact that he was a U.S. Air Force veteran? Or that he was one of the most brilliant pop song writers in American music history? Or that for much of his professional life he was a social activist? Or that he got his substance abuse problem under control? The story of Johnny Cash is more than he had a substance abuse problem. The story of Johnny Cash is what he accomplished despite the substance abuse problem.
This movie offers an unflattering yet interesting portrayal of one of the most gifted popular musical artists in American history, Johnny Cash. The portrayal is unflattering because it shows Mr. Cash as being a self-centered, pill-popping, emotionally fragile philanderer who neglects his family and almost wrecks his career. But the movie also provides an interesting and engaging portrayal of a gifted musical artist who became an musical icon in his own time. The movie's suggestion that Mr. Cash had to overcome adversity to achieve success is unconvincing. Although he came from poverty, Mr. Cash's background was not one of deprivation. According to the movie, Mr. Cash's father was judgmental and overbearing, but so what? What the storyline lacks, however, is more than made up for by the music, and this involves an outstanding performance by Jaoquin Phoenix who in this movie IS Johnny Cash. Indeed, Mr. Phoenix's uncanny portrayal of the musical legend is akin to that of Fay Dunaway's amazing portrayal of Joan Crawford in "Mommy Dearest." Also, Reese Witherspoon offers a strong performance as June Carter. What makes their performances even more remarkable is that neither one are known for being musical artists. Yet they sing, play musical instruments and are quite good. How many movies portray anyone playing an auto-harp? This movie is proof that when actors are given the opportunity, they can reveal a wide range of artistic talents that they otherwise would not be called upon to perform. His personal life notwithstanding, Johnny Cash was a great performer and for that reason alone this movie is worth watching.