Walk the Line

Johnny Cash’s legendary 1968 comeback gig at California’s Fulsom Prison bookends this refreshing biopic of the country music legend which takes us from Cash’s childhood in rural Arkansas to his marriage to June Carter. Refreshing because Mangold roots firmly in live performance the story of Cash’s quick rise to fame, struggle with addiction and long-stalled union with his touring partner Carter (Witherspoon). Phoenix rises above conventional – though always sober – biographical plotting (a story of love and redemption driven by the care of a good woman), brilliantly handling most of the singing himself and delivering more than a good impression of the Man in Black.