Official Synopsis:
One of the most iconic figures in rock history, Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) had it all: the women (over 411 served), the friends (Elvis, The Beatles) and the rock 'n' roll lifestyle (a close and personal relationship with every pill and powder known to man). But most of all, he had the music that transformed a dimwitted country boy into the greatest American rock star who never lived. A wild and wicked send-up of every musical biopic ever made, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is gut-busting proof that when it comes to hard rocking, living and laughing, a hard man is good to find.
Our Take:
I really didn’t expect to like Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Don’t get me wrong; I think the trailer looked pretty funny, I love John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer, and I thought the idea of a satire of music biopics seemed pretty fun. But the film is co-written and produced by Judd Apatow, who I’ve decided is simply the most overrated filmmaker on the planet right now. I just don’t find his movies that funny, and the fact that they usually go on to become huge hits and oft-quoted pop culture popularities kind of annoys me.
So it makes perfect sense that Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is by far the lowest grossing film out of the Apatow factory, because it’s the best one since The 40-Year-Old-Virgin by a large margin. That’s not to say that Walk Hard is a perfect film, but it’s good for more than few chuckles and John C. Reilly embraces the part with gusto. Whether he’s playing a 14-year old in a high school band competition or a strung out cokehead, Reilly is just plain funny. Along for the ride is the gorgeous Jenna Fischer, who has never been hotter. What’s nice is that the humor here comes from sharp writing, good performances, and clever gags, rather than just the usual over-the-top sexual humor and gross out antics that we’re used to from Apatow & Co. By allowing the film to maintain some semblance of intelligence amongst the silliness of it all, Walk Hard manages to be both smart-funny and stupid-funny at the same time.
The music in the film is fantastic as well. The song “Walk Hard” is a pitch-perfect parody of a Johnny Cash song, and “Let’s Duet,” is the best double entendre of a tune I’ve ever heard. There are numerous other catchy songs as well, which proves that they aren’t just a throwaway part of the film but rather an integral ingredient in the humor.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story comes to DVD in both single and double disc editions. Many of the special features mirror the style or set-up of the materials available on other recent Apatow Factory discs, such as Knocked Up and Superbad. The Unrated Edition also includes both the theatrical edition and the unrated edition, which runs about 30 minutes longer. Here’s what special features are on the 2-Disc Unrated edition.
Disc 1:
- Deleted & Extended Scenes.
- 8 Full Song Performances.
- Line-O-Rama.
- The Music of Walk Hard.
- The Real Dewey Cox.
- Commentary with Jake Kasdan, Judd Apatow, John C. Reilly and Lew Morton.
Disc 2:
- Extended Footage Not Seen in Theaters.
- More Deleted & Extended Scenes.
- 8 Additional Full Song Performances.
- A Christmas Song From Dewey Cox.
- Cox Sausage Commercial with Outtakes.
- Song Demos.
- The Making of Walk Hard.
- The Last Word with John Hodgman.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story will appeal both to fans of Judd Apatow movies (which I’m not) and of music-based biopics (which I do tend to like). With a nice blend of intelligent humor and lowest-common-denominator guffaws, Walk Hard should have been a bigger hit, but I think it will find a good audience on home video.
RECOMMENDED!
Overall Picture:
Movie: B+
DVD: A
- Mike Spring
Editor
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