Can't Look Away

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2005)

I am not a country music fan at all. I always respected Johnny Cash and his huge influence over today's music, but I am by no means a big fan of his. That is, I should say until I saw this movie. When I got home from seeing it, I immediately ordered "Live From Folsom Prison" and "Live From San Quinten" on Amazon.
This wasn't a movie at all really. It was a two and a half hour tour de force of incredible acting, great music and storytelling. You just don't get bored for one second, and can't look away the whole time. Joaquin Phoenix's performance in this film is one of the best acting jobs in recent years. He isn't acting like Johnny Cash, he IS Johnny Cash. Reese Witherspoon is also great as June Carter. The fact that Phoenix had never sung or played guitar before this movie was filmed caused me to wonder how he was going to pull this off. But his rendition of "Get Rhythm", and "Cocaine Blues" in the Folsom scene are some of the best music performances in movie history. He takes over the screen and just kicks your ass. It is hard to believe that he is not a professional musician.
The music performances are enough to make this film worth seeing. But the love story between these two, the way that June and her family helped him back from his drug addiction are what gives the film its heart. I would recommend this film to anyone, Johnny Cash fan or not. If you don't like him now, you will when the movie is over