Walking a Parallel Line
As a child June (Jewel Kilcher - Framed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery) was part of the Carter's, a group of family singers, but eventually she managed to make it as a singer and performer in her own right. But after becoming a singer in her own right June met the incorrigible Johnny Cash (Matt Ross - Pushing Tin). But despite falling for him there was Johnny's ongoing substance abuse problems which threatened their happiness.
First things first and "Ring of Fire" is not the Johnny Cash story, but the June Carter Cash storyline which delves in to her life and their relationship from her perspective. It is an important point to make because this made for TV movie covers things which from my memory were not covered in "Walk the Line" which of course many will end up comparing this to. For example "Ring of Fire" mentions June's previous marriages and children which I don't remember really being covered in "Walk the Line" and then there June's performances on the Johnny Cash show as a singer in her own right rather than a comedy side kick.
Now let me cut to the chase and tell you that if you appreciate the music of June Carter and Johnny Cash what you have is 90 minutes of entertainment with nice performances from Jewel Kilcher and Matt Ross, on the subject of which certainly has a touch of the Johnny Cash about him when it comes to his looks. Now maybe if you are fans of June Carter and Johnny Cash and know their true story then maybe there are some noticeable issues but I suppose in a way what this does is symbolically tell their love story from June's perspective and that works as it gives us enough variation on the storyline in "Walk the Line".
What this all boils down to is that if you want to watch a musical romance with ups and downs then "Ring of Fire" works, especially if you are a fan of June Carter and Johnny Cash's music. But whilst it tells the story of their relationship from June's perspective this isn't some great biopic especially if you compare it to "Walk the Line" or know the true story of June Carter and Johnny Cash troubled relationship.
