Walk the Line | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | James Mangold |
Produced by |
James Keach Cathy Konrad |
Written by |
Gill Dennis James Mangold |
Based on |
Man in Black: His Own Story in His Own Words and Cash: The Autobiography by Johnny Cash |
Starring |
Joaquin Phoenix Reese Witherspoon Ginnifer Goodwin Robert Patrick Dallas Roberts |
Music by | T Bone Burnett |
Cinematography | Phedon Papamichael |
Edited by | Michael McCusker |
Production
company |
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date
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Running time
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136 minutes (theatrical cut) 153 minutes (extended cut) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $28 million |
Box office | $186.4 million |
Academy Awards | |
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1. Best Actress in a Leading Role (Reese Witherspoon) | |
Golden Globe Awards | |
1. Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy | |
2. Best Actor in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy (Joaquin Phoenix) | |
3. Best Actress in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy (Reese Witherspoon) | |
BAFTA Awards | |
1. Best Actress (Reese Witherspoon) | |
2. Best Sound |
Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold and based on the early life and career of country music artist Johnny Cash. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Robert Patrick.
The film focuses on Cash's early life, his romance with June Carter, and his ascent to the country music scene, as based on his autobiographies. The screenplay was written by Mangold and Gill Dennis. The film's production budget is estimated to have been US$28 million.
Walk the Line previewed at the Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 2005, and went into wide release on November 18. The film was nominated for five Oscars at the 78th Academy Awards, including Best Actor (Phoenix), Best Actress (Witherspoon, which she won), and Best Costume Design (Arianne Phillips). The film grossed more than $186 million worldwide.
The film opens in 1968, as an audience of inmates at Folsom State Prison cheer for Johnny Cash's band as he waits backstage near a table saw, reminding him of his early life.
In 1944, Johnny, then known as J.R., grows up the son of a sharecropper on a cotton farm in Dyess, Arkansas. He is known for his singing of hymns, while his brother Jack is training himself to become a pastor. While Jack is sawing wood for a neighbor with a table saw, J.R. goes fishing until his brother finishes. But Jack has an accident with the saw and dies of his injuries. Cash's strained relationship with his father Ray becomes much more difficult after Jack's death. In 1950, J.R. enlists in the United States Air Force as Johnny Cash, and is stationed in Germany. He purchases a guitar and in 1952, finds solace in writing songs, one of which he develops as "Folsom Prison Blues".