Opinion: Phoenix uncanny as Cash in 'Walk the Line'

His career spanned six decades. He made his first record with legendary Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who also discovered and produced Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Elvis. Cash made his final recordings with legendary producer Rick Rubin. Rubin has produced The Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Slipknot.

Yes, Cash covered the gamut of popular music.

James Mangold’s new bio-pic of Johnny Cash, “Walk the Line,” only covers his life until 1968. But the film’s depth is impressive.

There will be inevitable comparisons to last year’s “Ray,” which was a great film as well. “Walk the Line” is a less glamorized account of a true American original whose highs soared mightily and whose lows sank deep. Mangold’s direction is nearly always unflinching, and his lead actors, Joaquin Phoenix as Cash and Reese Witherspoon as June Carter, nail their parts as perfectly as Jamie Foxx did as “Ray.”

After a brief introduction set in 1968 before a concert at Folsom Prison, the film jumps back to 1944, and we see incidents and accidents that will affect Cash for the rest of his life.

In 1952, Cash is stationed in Germany and begins writing songs. He proposes to his girlfriend Viv, and upon his return to the states the couple set up housekeeping in Memphis, Tenn.

Cash fronts a ragtag musical trio who (barely) play Southern gospel standards. He convinces Sam Phillips to give them an audition. The producer is duly unimpressed.

Cash decides to offer up one of the songs he wrote in Germany, “Folsom Prison Blues.” Phillips hears something in this song and offers a recording contract. Soon Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two are on the charts and touring with the Sun Records caravan. Also on the bill are Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

Occasionally, June Carter is a guest on the bill. The Carter Family is country music royalty. June has been in the spotlight since age 4. Cash has listened to her on the radio since she started performing and has followed her career ever since.

When they meet, he is smitten.

Sparks fly, but Carter has been in and out of a few bad marriages, and Cash is still a married man. This doesn’t prevent them from working together professionally, and the act is a hit.

Back home, Viv is less than thrilled. A woman knows.

On the road, Cash begins popping pills and drinking heavily. June is less than thrilled. Cash manages to alienate the two most important women in his life.

Cash and Carter continue on the road. As the sexual tension grows, so does Cash’s drug use.

In a truly harrowing scene, he collapses onstage.

What follows is the first of Cash’s many stabs at rehab.

Cash and Viv divorce. Cash and Carter continue on the road, and Cash inevitably relapses again. And again.

In the final act of the film, Cash is cared for at his Tennessee lake home by the Carters. The quick scene of Mother Maybelle Carter, her husband, Ezra, and June “welcoming” one of Cash’s drug dealers is hilarious but powerful.

Cash gets clean. He and Carter tour. He still can’t convince her to marry him.

The singer – who has received thousands of fan letters from inmates across the country because of “Folsom Prison Blues” – decides his redemption should include doing something for the prisoners. His record company scoffs at the idea of a live album recorded in Folsom Prison, so Cash tells them he’ll record it anyway. Afterwards the company can decide. The album, “At Folsom Prison,” went on to be a phenomenal success and is still selling today.

Obviously, since she was later known as June Carter Cash, June finally accepted his proposal. In real life it didn’t happen the way it does in “Walk the Line,” but Mangold is allowed some dramatic license.

Unlike Foxx in “Ray,” Phoenix and Witherspoon do their own singing in “Walk the Line.” It is impressive, indeed. Cash’s low, gravelly voice was entirely unique and immediately identifiable. Phoenix’s impersonation is uncanny. Witherspoon nearly steals the show portraying June’s firecracker wit onstage as well as her caring and serious side offstage. Vocally, her challenge wasn’t as great as Phoenix’s, but she’s a fine singer.

Even if you think you don’t care for Cash’s music, give “Walk the Line” a chance. The love story, and the struggle of a man with his own demons, is as important to the film as the music.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.