Now that's all well and good but dammit that's not the movie I wanted to see. This movie should come with a warning label:

Not only was I disappointed that this was a love story, but I was even more disappointed that it didn't really tell the story about his music career. Instead, his music and career were merely a backdrop. We see a few of the people who influenced his music, but don't have any sort of feel for how they played into his life. I wanted to see how he learned to play the guitar. I wanted to see more of him writing his own songs and what might have influenced him to write them. I wanted to see him interact more with other musicians to whom he was very close. For instance, Johnny Cash lived with the legendary Waylon Jennings for a while. In the movie, Waylon's son, Shooter Jennings, portrays his father, but is given about 5 seconds of screen time. I wanted to see them writing songs together. I wanted to see them share stories about their lives. I wanted to see the fusion of two great musical minds in action. Instead I got five seconds where Jennings asks Cash for some cash to help pay the rent. And others such as Willie Nelson aren't even mentioned! What a wasted opportunity!

This movie's saving grace is its actors. Joaquin Phoenix becomes Johnny Cash in this film, but with his own style. He does his own singing and has a pretty good feel for the music. His performance is in my opinion the best in the film, because his character undergoes the most transformation. He begins as a young, timid, but ambitious wanna-be musician and then takes us on a ride through success (rubbing elbows with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis) and failure (a failed first marriage, depression, and drug dependency). But all the while, his beacon for life is not God (even though from what I've read about Cash is that he was very spiritual...the movie portrays him as very aloof based on an accident that killed his brother as a child) but is a talented beauty named June. Reese Witherspoon plays the role of June Carter and has received many accolades for her portrayal. Her character is always caring and always cheerful but resists Johnny's advances for one reason after another until finally melting in his arms towards the end of the film. She has a lot of spunk and spirit and it is no wonder Johnny falls for her, especially when compared to his first wife who NEVER SMILES (how convenient for the audience to have no allegiance whatsoever to the first wife).

This movie is well done for what it is, but very disappointing nevertheless. I don't think that fans of Johnny Cash will be all that rewarded. People wanting a reason or impetus to have an affair or get divorced might find some inspiration here, but those looking for more into the man in black and what brought about his musical style may come home empty-handed. A scene which kind of sums it up for me seems to say that the makers of this movie really had no idea. June asks Johnny why he wears black and why his slow, deliberate singing style is such a hit. His answer seems to be that black was the only thing he could find in his closet and that he and his band couldn't play any faster if they wanted to. June says that he doesn't give himself enough credit which implies that there is something more beneath the surface but sadly we never discover what that something is.

A good movie but not what I expected and not as good as it could have been.