Walk the Line by James Mangold is a biographical film about one of the greatest songwriters of all time; Johnny Cash. It premiered on the 4th of September 2005 and grossed over 180 million dollars worldwide. As a big Cash fan, I thought the movie was pretty good, but I had few issues.
Let's start with the good things. The film is based in the 50s and 60s, and they pulled it off well. As a history lover, I appreciate the small details in people's speech and actions, which give you a good presentation how life was like in the 1960s. Casual racism, wives getting tossed around and only getting fined for carrying 600 pills were key elements in the 60s, so those things present in this movie made it enjoyable from a historical perspective.
I also must talk about the soundtrack. It consisted mainly of Cash's own songs, but also had songs from Bob Dylan and Willie Johnson. It might be on of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time. Correct songs were chosen to correct scenes, and they gave more depth to these moments. The best part might probably be, that the actors sang the songs themselves.
But some things weren't right. In general, it was hard to follow the timeline in the movie, because sometimes the movie would just skip a few years without telling the viewer. Dialog got really confusing and hard to follow during scenes, because of the horrible Southern accent that the actors were doing. It was truly awful and made no real contribution to the movie. Also, there were some historical inaccuracies; Cash did not start his Folsom Prison gig with Cocaine Blues, but with Folsom Prison Blues. I might be nitpicky, but these really bothered me.
Despite all these things, I really enjoyed the movie. It gave a good perspective on Johnny Cash's life and all the things he went through. Even after 17 years after Cash's death, he still influences lots of people and this movie really tells you why.
Let's start with the good things. The film is based in the 50s and 60s, and they pulled it off well. As a history lover, I appreciate the small details in people's speech and actions, which give you a good presentation how life was like in the 1960s. Casual racism, wives getting tossed around and only getting fined for carrying 600 pills were key elements in the 60s, so those things present in this movie made it enjoyable from a historical perspective.
I also must talk about the soundtrack. It consisted mainly of Cash's own songs, but also had songs from Bob Dylan and Willie Johnson. It might be on of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time. Correct songs were chosen to correct scenes, and they gave more depth to these moments. The best part might probably be, that the actors sang the songs themselves.
But some things weren't right. In general, it was hard to follow the timeline in the movie, because sometimes the movie would just skip a few years without telling the viewer. Dialog got really confusing and hard to follow during scenes, because of the horrible Southern accent that the actors were doing. It was truly awful and made no real contribution to the movie. Also, there were some historical inaccuracies; Cash did not start his Folsom Prison gig with Cocaine Blues, but with Folsom Prison Blues. I might be nitpicky, but these really bothered me.
Despite all these things, I really enjoyed the movie. It gave a good perspective on Johnny Cash's life and all the things he went through. Even after 17 years after Cash's death, he still influences lots of people and this movie really tells you why.