Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Movie Review

John C Reilly finally gets his chance in the spotlight with Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a comedy co-written and directed by Jake Kasdan (son of Lawrence Kasdan and writer/director of The TV Set). Kasdan’s co-writer Judd Apatow just happens to be one of the hottest names in comedy right now, with everything Apatow touching turning to box office gold. However, due to the cast and the subject matter, Walk Hard might just be a slightly tougher sell than Apatow's previous film projects: 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad.

Reilly’s not really a box office draw, but having Apatow’s name as part of the credits should pump up business for the musical biopic-skewering film. That, plus a killer soundtrack and cameo appearances by Jack Black, Frankie Munoz, Jack White, Eddie Vedder and Paul Rudd amongst others, make Walk Hard worth running to.

The Story

Reilly plays Dewey Cox from the age of 14 up to his 70s, singing his way through the decades with all the gusto a 42-year-old actor can bring to the role of a hard-living, guitar-playing musician.

As a child, Dewey spent time hanging out with his best friend and big brother, Nate (Chip Hormess). But an accident while playing with machetes chops Dewey’s brother out of his life, leaving his parents grief-stricken and his dad to proclaim that the wrong son died (a phrase repeated often throughout the movie by Dewey’s angry father - played by Raymond J Barry).

Nate was an accomplished piano player and Dewey learns soon after his brother’s death that he too has an ear for the blues and a talent for playing the guitar. Kicked out of the house by his dad and accompanied by his girlfriend and soon-to-be wife, Edith (Kirsten Wigg), Dewey embarks on a series of adventures that lead him to a record deal with Planet Records run by three Hasidic Jews (Harold Ramis, Phil Rosenthal and Knocked Up alum Martin Starr). Dewey and his band hit the charts with Walk Hard while Dewey’s wife starts popping out kid after kid after kid.

After their first hit record, things get really crazy. Drummer Sam (Tim Meadows) introduces Dewey to the world of drugs. On the relationship front, Dewey’s tempted by the beautiful backup singer, Darlene (Jenna Fischer). As the decades roll past, Dewey flows through the times latching onto whatever’s hot in pop culture. He becomes a part of the protest movement (the song in support of midgets is hysterical), travels to India to meet the Maharishi and The Beatles, goes through a bizarre Pet Sounds/Brian Wilson phase, and then transitions into a has-been/TV variety show host by the time he’s in his 40s. His life parallels the careers of most celebs, and family doesn’t play a key role until the very end.

The Cast

Reilly really gives it everything he’s got while parodying everyone from Johnny Cash to Bob Dylan (the poster shows Reilly’s best Jim Morrison pose but Morrison’s not really referenced in the film). He sings, he shimmies, he says the most outrageous lines with a deadpan delivery…Reilly just makes this guy come alive.

The Office’s Jenna Fischer vamps it up as a backup singer who tempts and tantalizes Dewey. And Tim Meadows is hilarious as the drummer who tries not to get Dewey involved in drugs while making them look utterly irresistible. But it’s the actors playing The Beatles who commit grand larceny, stealing the show from Reilly for a brief period in the middle of the pic. The Beatles scene with Jack Black as Paul McCartney, Paul Rudd as John Lennon, Justin Long as George Harrison, and Jason Schwartzman as Ringo Starr is by far the funniest bit of the whole movie. If Apatow’s looking for his next project, he should write a feature-length Beatles parody for these guys.

To Sum It Up

Reilly’s the star but the music is the key to Walk Hard. Kasdan and Apatow collaborated with a wide range of musicians to come up with the songs for the film. Artists including Marshall Crenshaw and Van Dyke Parks were brought in to make sure the songs performed in the movie fit the era, and that the tunes lived up to standards set by the Spinal Tap crew. The songs connect the dots in the film and if they didn’t fit snugly into the Dewey Cox story, the film would maybe not have imploded, but wouldn’t have worked as well as it does.

Jake Kasdan does a terrific job of keeping Walk Hard from losing speed as it fires satiric arrows at other music biopics. And Apatow proves he knows how to reach audiences with a truly funny film aimed at adults who love their R-rated comedies to have some real bite.

GRADE: B

Walk Hard was directed by Jake Kasdan and is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language.