Ring of Fire (2013) Reviews

• Ring of FIre 2013

  nsfer162013-05-27

  Although some readers compare this movie to Walk The Line, I disagree. This new movie focuses more on the life of June Carter Cash & the tremendous love she had for Johnny Cash. She stood by him through his addiction and helped him recover. Jewel was excellent in her part of June Carter Cash - her mannerisms were "spot on". Although I have given it 10 stars, I found that the actor who played Johnny Cash was unbelievable as the singer. Other than that I found the movie very enjoyable and recommend it to others. Get ready to shed a few tears at the end. An interesting fact is that Johnny Cash died only four months after June Carter Cash died. I think he died of heartbreak after losing her.

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• Half-way decent

  deadasjuliuscaesar2013-05-30

  So, it's not 'Walk the Line'. But as the Phoenix/Witherspoon film was hardly flawless itself, I can't be too hard on this one. I'm not familiar with Jewel's music, but she portrayed June Carter very authentically. Far closer to the real June than Witherspoon (even if Witherspoon is the more seasoned actress). Johnny was not cast especially well, though he did okay. Didn't sound anything like Johnny when singing, which is a shame. Neither did Phoenix for that matter. Too bad they couldn't get that guy who tours with the Million Dollar Quartet show. He was very authentic-sounding. Overall, good casting, particularly Mother Maybelle. Her funeral scene was really a heartfelt treat to see depicted (Why they cast a 'big' woman in Walk the Line, I'll never know. Maybelle was NEVER more than skinny). I like how they took this film to the end of June's life, but really disappointed that there wasn't more of her music. They did well in the first half-hour, then resorted to typical Lifetime drama for the rest. The film was far too short to give this love story justice. They would have been better served having more of the Carter Family years depicted as their story is virtually unknown/forgotten (read Mark Zwonitzer's book 'Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone'). And, as others have already stated, how the heck can they have 'Wabash Cannonball' TWICE and 'Jackson' not even ONCE? Ending on a positive note, closing the film with 'Far Side Banks of Jordan' was a brilliant move. Nice touch.

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• 2 hours of my life I won't get back

  mvdonnamae-697-6960512013-05-28

  This movie was awful. If you've seen Walk the Line, this will be absolute torture. Jewel has a great voice, but this movie was all over the map. I know this was Junes story, but it jumped time and time again. With Walk the line, you had a sense of how difficult it was for June to be divorced twice before Johnny. This movie just dumbed her down and not nearly enough music- IE: Jackson. I have to watch "Walk the Line" again to get the bad taste out of my mouth. As for the actor portraying Johnny, it was an absolute miss. He looked the same age at the beginning of the movie as he did at the end, for the exception of the final scene. Did I mention that he couldn't sing either? The same goes for June (Jewel). It wasn't until the end that they decided to give her a few wrinkles and gray streaks, however she did a nice job singing.

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• Not good

  ablondmoment2013-05-28

  This was to be about June and the love of her life Johnny Cash. There was no chemistry between them in this movie. I am not even sure why this movie was made it was the same story as Walk the line. Just not as good. Matt Ross was not the person to play Johnny he didn't even look like him. Every time he was on the screen until someone said John I would think who is he? Jewel sang like Jewel instead of acting and singing like June. How can they make this movie without June and Johnny singing Jackson? It was not sang once in this movie. This movie skipped all over the place it was boring. There is no way it could compete with Walk the line.

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• Do not expect a movie about Johnny Cash and his music. This is about June getting him off drugs, over and over. I say B-

  cosmo_tiger2013-06-01

  "I fell for you like a child, oh but the fire went wild." June Carter (Jewel) is a member of country musics most famous family. After two failed marriages and a successful music career she finally gives in and marries country's bad boy, Johnny Cash (Ross). She then starts her new life singing, playing, raising kids and trying to keep Johnny clean. Some prove more difficult then others. Just about everyone know the story of these two icons. I am a huge Johnny Cash fan and even though this was a Lifetime movie I was still looking forward to seeing it. I do have to admit that Jewel did a pretty good job of playing June in this but no where close to how good Reese Witherspoon was. As far as the guy playing Johnny Cash...it would have been hard to even come close to Joaquin Phoenix but this guy was just bad. His acting was OK, but he looked and sounded nothing like him. In fact the whole movie I thought the guy looks more like Merle Haggard then Johnny Cash. As far as the actual movie "Walk The Line" dealt with Cash's drug problems fairly harsh but also had the music mixed in. This movie is more of a bio-pic of June Carter, but it's pretty much her helping Johnny get sober over and over. I know it's Lifetime and it does show how strong June was, but after the third scene of her telling Johnny he has to stop it becomes very repetitive and really starts to lose some of the emotion. Do not be like me and go in expecting a Johnny Cash movie with music, that's not what this is. Overall, Jewel does a good job but this is nothing like I expected. I give it a B-.

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