The Contrasting Cash Family Opinions About the Johnny Cash Film ‘Walk the Line’

The freedom of interpretation is a beautiful thing and can offer a non-fiction story with a lot of newfound nuance. However, it can also get one in a great deal of trouble. This is of course applicable to any non-fiction story in any medium. However, it is especially relevant and dicey when it comes to film biopics. That being so, James Mangold’s freedom of interpretation in his iconic Johnny Cash film, Walk The Line, got him both praise and blame from several different Cash family members.

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Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, Mangold’s 2005 film is an acclaimed biopic that remains a staple in music films. Given its quality, the film won both an Oscar, two BAFTAs, and several Golden Globes. However, one member of the Cash family did not praise the film for several different reasons. The family member in question is Cash’s eldest daughter, Rosanne Cash.

Johnny Cash & Rosanne’s Hard Truth

Upon the film’s release in 2005, both Johnny Cash and June Carter were thrilled with both the film and the casting of Phoenix and Witherspoon. Both parties thought Mangold’s casting choice was accurate, authentic, and entirely believable to audiences.

Even though Johnny and June loved the direction Mangold took the film in, Rosanne Cash took a hard stance on the film and some of its creative directions. As a matter of fact, when the film premiered, Rosanne refused to attend the premiere for these very reasons. Particularly, Rosanne had an issue with the way Mangold portrayed her mother and Cash’s first wife, Vivian Liberto.

Rosanne believed that her mother wasn’t portrayed accurately, specifically, she detested the fact that her mother was an unsupportive wife who had little to no faith in Cash’s music career. According to Rosanne, that depiction was entirely inaccurate. Furthermore, she told the Harvard Crimson, “The movie was painful because it had the three most damaging events of my childhood: my parent’s divorce, my father’s drug addiction, and something else bad that I can’t remember now.”

Rosanne continued and realized that the film is “For other people” and to them “It’s just some story.” Nonetheless, for Rosanne Cash, the inaccurate depiction of her mother and the relived childhood trauma caused her to dislike some of the film’s elements. As a whole, she believed the film was well done and paid homage to her father decently well, especially when it came to the casting of Phoenix and Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and June Carter.

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