I never 'got' Johnny Cash - but I do now

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2006)

I never 'got' Johnny Cash, or knew much about him, so the maverick nature of the man, his inner (and often outer) violence and tragic scar baggage from his country childhood, came as a complete surprise. As much so as the extent of Ray Charles' darker side had been in WALK THE LINE's closest film relative RAY.
And yes, the movie is every bit as good as you probably expect it to be. Joaquin Phoenix is every bit as accurate  and not just his copy of Cash's awkward, uncomfortable style of holding a guitar that made even Gerry Marsden look relaxed. And Reese Witherspoon is every bit as convincing as he is powerful.
The musical set pieces, of course, are tremendous  from Cash's debut in Texarkana to the seminal Folsom Prison gig. Plus some interesting cameos of Jerry Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Waylon Jennings (by his real-life son). Even Roy Orbison gets a glide-by appearance.
But the suddenness of the 'coitus interruptus' ending was eased by the retired national newspaper journalist who went with me to the preview and recalled how his photographer colleague was once sent to photograph Cash during a stopover for a gig in Manchester. They did the pictures, then Cash asked where he could get a decent drink. So the snapper treated Cash by taking him for a few at his local pub in Cheadle Hulme just outside the city. Now just imagine that!