Based
on the autobiography by Johhny Cash,it is a story of the legandary singer
and the woman who would become his second wife.
Johhny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) was born as the second son of a poor
Dyess, Arkansas sharecropper.When he was young, he lost his elder brother
in a tragic accident. In the early 1950's he joined the Air Force and
spend sometime in Germany. Shortly after he returned to USA, he settled
in Memphis and married Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin). She had big dreams
of living a happy life with kids in the suburb but Johnny was strggling
to make a living as a door to door salesman.
Whenever he had time Johnny used to compose some songs and formed a band with
two of his friends. They managed to get an audition with Sam Phillip (Dallas
Roberts) of Sun Records who was impressed by their gospal tunes. But Johnny
delivers Sam a beautiful song that he wrote a while ago, that paved the way
for his successful singing career. In the meantime, Johnny meets June (Reese
Witherspoon) and they become friends. But he start to develope some drug habbits
as a result of the pressure created by his own success. He also felt guilty
about not spending any time with his family.
The rest
of the film deals with his romance with June who helped him to get out
of his drug problems and achieve an ever lasting stardoom.
Director James Mangold has skillfully crafted the rags to riches tale of the
legendary Johnny Cash. He puts emphasis on Johnny's tough childhood life and
the hardship he went through before he became a legend. He has selected a group
of brilliant characters and let them grow with the story. He did mix some symbolism
with the story to give the film a serious outlook.
Just like any other biopic of a successful star, this film also deals with
hardship, misery, romance, drug dependency as well as stardom.
Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon deliver a brilliant, Oscar worthy performance.
Together they look great and have good chemistry. Phoenix sings very convincingly
and very well portray Cash's compassion and gentleness. The music is great and
the film is a good entertainer. It is emotionaly vibrant and a great tribute
to legendary singer, his music and his life.
Even if you are not a Johnny Cash fan, you will enjoy this film. This is one
of the best films of the year.
We rate this movie GOOD.
