FOLSOM, California (AP) - Joaquin Phoenix, whose portrayal of country singer Johnny Cash in Walk the Line has made him an early Oscar front-runner, returned to the scene of one of the musician's most famous concerts - Folsom State Prison. Cash's Jan. 13, 1968, performance in a prison yard cemented his image as working-class hero and became a popular live album. About 54 inmates dressed in denim shirts and pants watched the movie Tuesday in the Sacramento suburb as the actor and his entourage, including musician Shooter Jennings, who played his father, Waylon Jennings, in the movie, and a host of prison officials toured the facility. Dressed head to toe in Cash's trademark black, Phoenix performed several acoustic songs with Jennings at the prison's Greystone Chapel, including Cash's Folsom Prison Blues. Jennings played his father's song, I'm a Long Way From Home. Phoenix apologized for his "rusty" performance, saying he had not played since the completion of the movie. "I don't know if you've noticed but I've messed up like 40 times," Phoenix said. "I'm all over the place." One inmate asked Phoenix if he learned to play guitar for the movie. "John wasn't (Jimi) Hendrix," Phoenix replied. "It was real simple ... we rehearsed a lot." Phoenix said his co-star in the film, Reese Witherspoon, who played Cash's wife, June Carter Cash, wanted to be there for the event. "I know you guys would probably rather see Reese," he said. The prisoners were subdued during most of the film, although there was occasional laughter and applause at the end. "I've always been a fan of Johnny Cash," said inmate Gary Lopez, 61, who has been incarcerated 11 years for attempted murder. "I grew up in the country picking cotton ... all we had was a radio. All we listened to was country music. All through the movie I had a lump in my throat." Warden Matthew Kramer presented Phoenix with a prison-made licence plate bearing the actor's name, and gave another to Jennings bearing the movie's title. The warden asked if Phoenix and 20th Century Fox, the studio which produced the movie, would be willing to make a donation to help fix the aging chapel. "It would be my pleasure," Phoenix said. The event was organized by Prison Fellowship, a group that runs Bible studies and other educational programs in prisons. Fellowship spokesman Joe Avila said the movie's message would be good for inmates because Cash's "whole life was a message of redemption." "The movie is about how he screwed it up really bad, and he turned to Jesus Christ to help him change," Avila said. Phoenix has been considered a likely Academy Awards nominee for best actor for his role as Cash, who died in 2003 soon after the death of his wife, June Carter Cash. Known for brooding roles, Phoenix brilliantly captures the dark corners of Cash, who was haunted by the death of his brother when they were boys and struggled with a long addiction to pills. Yet Phoenix also showed a sunnier side, embodying Cash's joyous nature in both his music and his pursuit of Carter. An Oscar win by Phoenix would make it the second-straight year the best-actor honour went to a performer playing a beloved, recently deceased American singer. Jamie Foxx won the award last year for his portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray. Unlike Foxx, who lip-synched to Charles' music, Phoenix handled his own singing in Walk the Line, ably recreating the resonant bass voice of Cash. Phoenix also intensively studied guitar, learning to emulate Cash's freight-train rhythms. - Associated Press Movie Writer David Germain contributed to this report. | 
