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# Phoenix walking tall as the ‘Man in Black’
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/phoenix-walking-tall-as-the-man-in-black/
- Published: 2005-11-18T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T08:13:01.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

James Mangold’s smashing biopic of the late Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) walks a narrative line that is familiar to anyone who has seen “Ray” or “Coal Miner’s Daughter” -- eloquent cinematic sketches of immensely talented, troubled American roots singers. Early on, “Walk the Line” relies upon a number of “Behind the Music” clichés to conjure the spirit of the legendary Man in Black — his difficult upbringing, a string of dead-end jobs, introduction to drugs, ongoing battles with personal demons — but the film hits its stride once it settles on exploring Cash’s complex relationship with the love of his life, June Carter, portrayed with unimpeachable assuredness by soon-to-be Oscar nominee Reese Witherspoon.

Mangold, who co-wrote the script with Gill Dennis using two Cash autobiographies as source material, devotes little time to the iconic singer’s childhood in Depression-era Arkansas, except to establish that Cash, like his contemporary Ray Charles, would be forever haunted and his music informed by the loss of a brother killed in a horrific accident. After a stint in the Air Force in Germany during which he composes the classic “Folsom Prison Blues,” Cash moves to Memphis with hopes of launching his music career, much to the chagrin of his bourgeois first wife Vivian Loberto (Ginnifer Goodwin). After impressing Sun Records’ owner Sam Phillips at an impromptu audition, Cash records his first hit, “Cry, Cry, Cry,” then hits the road for a tour with Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and June Carter, among others. The experience changes him forever.

Phoenix and Witherspoon generate plenty of heat during a lengthy courtship that begins in the late ’50s and lasts nearly a decade before the pair consummate their union. Along the way, Cash battles an addiction to amphetamines that leads to an arrest for possession in El Paso in 1965.

Phoenix did all the singing rather than lip-sync to Cash’s voice, and with the exception of a few too-high notes, it’s a spot-on impersonation. Witherspoon also handles her own crooning; the icing on one of the tastiest performances of the year and — arguably — the best of Witherspoon’s career. (RATED PG-13\. RUNNING TIME: 136 MINUTES.)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/111805-16_02.jpg)

(Photo: Special to the Daily Press)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 18, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111805.pdf?ref=smdp.com)