"Walk the Line"

"Steady like a train, sharp like a razor."

"Walk the Line" is the story of Johnny Cash's life as he moves through his musical career.  Throughout the movie Johnny is faced with different obstacles that he has to make a choice on how to deal with them.  As the movie shows Johnny does not make the best decisions on how to deal with these situations.  I think this movie depicts the life of the real Johnny Cash pretty accurately.

This movie opens with Johnny Cash waiting at Folsom Prison before going on stage and then the rest of the movie is a flashback into his childhood and the rest of his life up to that point.  We see that as a child J.R. has a rough childhood.  He has to deal with the loss of his brother and then the strained relationship between him and his dad.  J.R. and his brother, Jack, had a very close relationship in the beginning of the movie and after Jack's death J.R. has to learn how to deal with both the death and his distanced relationship with his dad.

J.R. always had music in his life which is why him listening to the radio at the beginning showed how important music would be in his life.  The music is a main idea throughout the whole movie.  Each scene has to deal with music of some sort whether it's the actual music itself or the reactions that come about from the music.  This emphasis on music creates an internal conflict for Johnny as he needs to devote time to both his music and to his family.  In the book it talks about how different movies use the symbolism of music.  This is definitely a movie that does this.  The different songs that come about throughout the movie make it known in another way what is happening in the movie.

I liked how this movie seemed to use a more realistic type of lighting.  Sometimes they would have faces in the shadows which is how it is in real life.  I noticed at the end of the movie how while Johnny was doing his concert for Folsom Prison they made sure he was the focal point for the audience by keeping him in focus and having anyone else who was in the frame more blurry.  I also liked how the movie had the other artists that were becoming known at the same time as Cash in it.

The movie also depicts how Johnny goes through this downward spiral.  This was very well done as during the scenes where he is detoxing it actually looked like the real deal.  They also nailed the emotional toll that it took on the other characters.  Basically, this part shows how just by doing some reckless behavior he can lose everything that was once important to him.

By having June in the movie it showed just how much she cared for him throughout the whole movie.  Even when she was upset with him she still came back to him when he needed help.  When she takes him to church towards the end it kind of shows that by having faith you can overcome almost anything.  I love how they did the ending to the movie where June and Johnny are on stage and he's holding her in the air.  It shows how after all they have been through their love has gotten them to where they are.