Jeri Smith-Ready

The Man in Black

Occasionally a movie comes around that I promise myself to see, regardless of reviews. I try not to even look at the reviews, in case they're bad. Walk the Line, the new Johnny Cash biopic, was one of these movies.

This morning I couldn't resist peeking at RottenTomatoes.com to get an overview of the critics' reception. Walk the Line has an 81% rating, which means it's good. Very good.

Anyone who knows me well, or even has passed me on the street once or twice, knows that I hhhaaaate country/western music. Actually, it's only C/W in its slicked-up, botoxed, jingoistic contemporary manifestation that I hate. You know, the men and women whose butts have never graced a saddle, whose clothes and teeth are oh-so-shiny, and who claim that President Bush has a place in Heaven reserved right next to Jay-sus and anyone who says different should be strung up like one of them peen-yatas.

My grandmother used to say, "That Johnny Cash can leave his shoes under my bed any day." (When I was a kid, I thought that meant that he could stay over at her house, as I often did, so they could both fall asleep watching Perry Mason.) As I grew older, I pretty much forgot all about him (Cash, not Mason--okay, I forgot about him, too). A 2003 family trip to Memphis awakened my dormant fascination with all those country and blues legends that formed the infant rock 'n' roll--Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and of course, Elvis Presley.

I think "Walk the Line" is one of the most romantic songs ever written. It reminds me of myself and how, um, flighty--yeah, that's the word--I used to be before my sweetie came along and discovered a well of devotion I didn't even know I had.

As sure as night is dark and day is light
I keep you on my mind both day and night
And happiness I've known proves that it's right.

Everybody together now: Awwwww.....

Yeah, shut up. Anyway, I'll let you know how the movie is.

Labels: movies, music

• posted by Jeri @ 10:03 PM
• 3 comments