Synopsis
The story of Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash's first wife and the mother of his four daughters. Includes never-before-seen footage and photographs of Johnny Cash and Rosanne Cash, as well as footage featuring Reese Witherspoon, Joaquin Phoenix, Tim Robbins, Whoopi Goldberg, John C. Reilly and many more.
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Cast
- Johnny CashSelf (archive footage)
- Reese WitherspoonSelf (archive footage)
- Joaquin PhoenixSelf (archive footage)
- John C. ReillySelf (archive footage)
- Ginnifer GoodwinSelf (archive footage)
- Holly HunterSelf (archive footage)
- Tim RobbinsSelf (archive footage)
- Ryan PhillippeSelf (archive footage)
- Whoopi GoldbergSelf (archive footage)
- Peter FalkSelf (archive footage)
Recommendations
- 90
Film Threat
This is a long-overdue must-see that sets the record straight for a woman whose whole life was glossed over in favor of a more camera-ready tabloid romance. - 88
Movie Nation
Vivian makes for a fascinating account of the psychological scars of a divorce, born mainly by their reserved, internalizing mother but rippling through to the daughters. - 88
RogerEbert.com
While the results will obviously not come close to resonating with the public in the manner of “Walk the Line,” My Darling Vivian does an admirable job of recounting the story of a woman who was ultimately far more than just a footnote in someone else’s life. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
A welcome corrective to the abridged and widely accepted narrative that dismisses Cash's first marriage as "troubled," My Darling Vivian relates a little-known love story, great in its own right — and immortalized in Cash's first hit, "I Walk the Line." And it offers a nuanced portrait, loving but not fawning, of a complex woman. - 80
Variety
Deftly illustrating the testimonies with a treasure trove of material — photos, home movies, personal correspondence — provided by the daughters, the filmmakers have fashioned a narrative that begins as a sweet fairly-tale romance, then gradually turns sour. - 78
Austin Chronicle
Riddlehoover's greatest insight is in letting the daughters tell the story. - 72
TheWrap
My Darling Vivian is an unmistakably loving and sensitive portrait, an imperfect but impassioned attempt to makes the case that the easy Johnny Cash narrative is missing an important figure, that the shadow his legend casts left at least one person in the darkness who ought not to be there. - 70
Los Angeles Times
The whole point of this illuminating and often moving film is that all of these people have a tale to tell — and one that’s not as simple as Hollywood would have it.
