Phoenix Ain't No Johnny Cash

Rating: 4/10 (4 March 2006)

He never once really captured Johnny Cash's essence. He seems like a lightweight where Johnny Cash was a heavyweight. His voice sounded phony, not nearly as deep, ragged, or stark as the real Johnny Cash. Phoenix's voice sounds like a whispery frat boy at times when he sings....a sound the real Johnny Cash was incapable of making. And he doesn't seem remotely country enough. He doesn't sound or act like a real hardscrabble country man. Very disappointing. It's interesting to me how easily fooled some folks are by the most half-baked attempt at a Southern or country accent. This is the kind of film that makes you realize how truly great COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER and RAY are. Those were films where--even if you had spent countless hours watching the original performer---the actor and performer merged in your mind on screen in the movie biography.