Customer Reviews

Walk Hard - The Dewey Cox Story (Two-Disc Special Edition)

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Ya'd figure that classic zany comedy was dead. Sure, there have been ambitious stuff, but more often than not, a lot of today's "comedy" movies are either blatent "gross-out" fests written for 12-year-olds, or the tired "let's-make-a-satire-of-the-current-favorite-genre" formula. Truthfully, the last great American comedy for me was "There's Something About Mary." Sure, it was a stupid-humor film, but it had genuine laugh-out-loud surprises and, more importantly, heart. Basically, it was a sweet romantic comedy with slapstick thrown in for good measure.

Judd Apatow, whether he's directing or producing, seems to be the guy who'll revive well-done dumb-guy humor. All by himself, judging by the list of hits he's thrown out. "Walk Hard," unfortunately, was the least commercially success ful of them, and for what reason I don't know. He did satire right, focussing on one character through a much-travelled formula, created a believable (and funny) body of work for the fictionally tributed, got a great director in Jake Kasden, and casted extremely well by putting veteran John C. Reilly in the lead.

This would be the most important thing, as few realize how talented and multifacited Mr. Reilly really is. Sincerity in character? He makes poor Dewey a sweetly believable guy who'd be really entertaining in any story he was plunked in. Creative? John C. can keep up with the rest of the brilliantly funny folks in the film. Most importantly, can he sing? Hell yeah! Reilly toured through Boston a few years back in a musical stage adaptation of the Ernest Borgnine everyman love story, "Marty," and carried a hell of a tune (even before "Chicago"), showing he has the singing chops. In a more sane universe, Reilly would be headlining more major films, rather than being relegated to "character actor" or "second banana" status.

As mentioned before, this is satire done right - built around a well-rounded comedy character, rather than a series of sight gags (although the film has those aplenty). Kasden and Apatow took every cliche about the recent musical biopic craze and ran them through the Dewey Cox prism. What made it even more funny was the character and their viewpoints. It looked like every biopic out there, and made most fun about that.

"Walk Hard" deserved more box-office love, but it will be a long-lived successful film because of home video. There are worse fates than that.

(3.5 *'s) Judd Apatow's `Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' is a familiar project. As the producer of `The Forty Old Virgin, 'Knocked Up,' and 'Superbad,' he takes another irreverent comedy, this time a parody of music biopics of popular music icons. Sometimes savvy, sometimes obvious, the movie is mostly an effective and witty trip through pop music history.

One of the best decisions was to cast John C. Reilly in the title role. Watching the film, I kept thinking Will Ferrell could have been cast as Dewey Cox. As much as I like Ferrell, his overexposure to such familiar loopiness may have made the movie overwrought. With Reilly's fine performance as "Lefty" in 'A Prairie Home Companion,' they made the right choice. There's a certain restraint he brings to the role that's welcome and refreshing.

For those who have seen `Ray,' and, especially `Walk the Line' the referenced parody will be clear, but those who haven't undoubtedly will be in for a fun time, too. It's basically a rags to riches story about a man from the South who gets a recording contract much the way Elvis and Johnny Cash did.

On the down side, tragedy is given a lighter treatment. Anyone who's read Cash's autobiography or seen 'Walk the Line' will recognize when Dewey accidentally cuts his brother in half that it's a reference to Cash's brother who lost his life to an electric saw. Throughout the movie he's haunted that he was the "wrong one" to die. They don't exactly glamorize drug use, though, which shows Dewey always making the wrong informed choice. (Backstage he's tempted by a band mate who says, "You don't want to use this stuff." Dewey always asks, "What does it do?" "It takes away every negative thought..." as if he chides.)

The real pluses come as Dewey goes through his phases of music. He has his early rockabilly years. He rocks during the early sixties, gets cosmic and hippie later, and becomes the familiar casualty of substance abuse and ego (with the usual infidelities) in his life. Some of the best scenes include his meeting with the squabbling Fab Four and an interview where he tries to reach the mainstream with a comeback family TV show. Fumbling with questions, Dewey reveals that he's off PCP and his estranged children will be watching his program. Some family man.

While not a comedy classic, `Walk Hard...' is more often unpredictable than not with a witty script that is delivered with a brisk comedic pace. It had me laughing loud and often, and I'll bet you will, too.

I have never before been inspired by a satirical, fictional comedy. (Is that half redundant?) But by the end of Walk Hard, I felt fantastic! That was the unexpected curve. The comedy though, is what I was after and I got it by the fistfuls! Sight gags, the absurd, live action caricatures of famous people, plenty of drug humor, etc. There were aspects of Steve Martin being channeled by John C. Reilly. And, I feel you can't really go wrong with John. He's not Academy Award material, he's just a perfect character actor. I enjoyed immensely his will to succeed coupled with his faulty decision-making processes. He was an idiot, but an intensely focused idiot. They basically made fun of every "unknown boy from nowhere makes it big" movie that came before it. And they did it well. The beginning had me wondering if the level of comedy was going to be elemntary school or not. And maybe it was. Who cares? It got funnier to me the longer I watched. And it even had a moral to it.

The very premise of this movie was brilliant. Anyone who has ever seen movies about musicians or bands like Elvis, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, the Beach Boys, the Doors and even the made for TV movies about Meat Loaf or the Temptations will appreciate the fun this movie pokes at the familiar themes and tragic events in the lives of famous people.

The need for small town kid to win daddy's approval, the rag to riches story to stardom, abandoning the (unsupportive, ha!) wife on tour, getting hooked on drugs and women, phases of activism and enlightenment, the Brian Wilson-like period of drug-induced insanity and creativity, breaks up the band that stuck by him through it all, then disappears until his comeback several years later.

Rather than mourning the familiar tragedies in the real life stories, Walk Hard allows us to chuckle at commonality of them. And the hilarious songwriting and performances by John Reilly make this movie a charm.

Yes, at times John Reilly reminded me of Will Ferrell. But I don't know if Elf would have pulled off the singing as well. So, the casting decision was excellent.

I loved the cameos. But does Jonah Hill have to be in every film made these days? And Jack White successfully did the worst Elvis impersonation I ever saw. Which, ironically, made it all the more enjoyable.

The quips and jokes in the movie were priceless. Tim Meadows trying to convince his friend not to try pot, coke, acid, etc. were hilariously crafted when considering most influential musicians have wrestled with the same temptations and addictions of drugs and alcohol. And since the real life tragic stories have done little to curb the abuses, perhaps making fun of it will.

This movie's a classic! It's funny, but not in the current definition of "funny" these days. It's funny like the old Leslie Neilsen / Airplane / Naked Gun movies were. With jokes that are truly humorous without relying on stupid gross-out humour like most movies these days. I rented it because I was in the mood for something ridiculous, and what I got was much more than I expected! Not only is it good for a laugh, but John C. Reilly can really sing! And kudos to the costume designer! The movie spans 60 years, and they nailed the period clothing to a "t".
Very funny, ridiculously smart, well acted, and worth watching.

While Walk Hard was something of a commercial failure, the film was proof that Judd Apatow and co. can do no wrong. Like Apatow's previous productions, it mixes raunchy humor with a bit of sentiment. That the film does this while spoofing the music biopic genre is a feat unto itself. The film comes alive through the performance of John C. Reily. Let's get this out of the way: someone take notice and give this guy an award - he is talented.

The film is more or less a parody of Walk the Line and Ray, both garnered with Oscar Nods and awards. To parody honest work filled with a lot of sadness seems at first seems like it might be in bad taste. But rest assured, this is a tribute to those musicians.

The movie is filled with some zany moments, including Dewey's initial discovering of the blues, his brother getting cut in half, and a ridiculous confrontation with his father. The film makes intentional references to music biopics with the cheating, drugs and the so called "dark period" of so many musicians. These moments are funny and acted well, but what really drives the film is the music.

The approach to the music seems mostly inspired by Johnny Cash. But the filmakers don't stop there. There's Bob Dylan, disco, and even rap. The songs are really good, moving the story along while often being quite humorous. To me, the most humorous has to be "Let's Duet." They're all top notch and John C. Reily gives his all. While Daniel Day Lewis picked up an oscar for his work in 2007, maybe someone should give Reily an award for his hard work in this film. I've loved seeing Reily in many of his supporting roles and admired his work. He shines here.

This 2 disc DVD, like prevoius Apatow productions, is chock full of goodies. The main draw to fans of the film will be the inclusion of 16 (count 'em) full performances of music from the movie. There's the obligatory commentary and a very interesting documentary on the music production. There's a lot of hard work that went into this film and I hope it gets a bit more notice on video.

There's nothing I can say positive about this movie that the other reviews haven't. From 'He's only 14!' to the last frame of Dewey clutching his chest, this movie rocks. The comedy is crazy in parts, yet subtle in others.

The one thing that really stood out at me, is the number of running jokes in this movie. Dewey's wife says he'll fail no matter how much he accomplishes, he tries each new drug in the bathroom, his music changes after each new drug, he's never home but has dozens of kids, he busts up bathrooms each time he gets peed off, his dad keeps saying the wrong kid died, he mispronounces the first two drug names 'reefers' and 'cok caine', and there's another one or two I found but can't think of.

This is a great movie, and the best comedy I've seen in years.

If there is a musical genre out there short of orchestral symphony, it gets sent up by this wonderful comedy.

Not a movie for the kiddies by a long shot, but if you are familiar with music artists from the 50s on, and especially if you lived through those periods of time, the parody of styles and stars will leave you with sore sides from laughing.

Make sure to listen closely to every lyric. They don't miss a chance to make jokes subtle or broad, and they don't take it easy on anyone. Songs in the credits are just as funny as songs through the body of the movie, so make sure to wait around for those rather than switching off after the story itself fades to black. John C. Reilly does all of his own singing in this film, and I was frankly amazed at the quality and versatility of his singing.

A personal favorite of mine are the scenes where Dewey discovers new drugs. Although I've never taken drugs, even smoked marijuana, these scenes were just too funny to be offensive, especially the first discussion of the weed just named.

Be in the mood to watch a comedy, especially for a parody of this type. If you can't really pay attention, you won't get everything, and will just think the movie crude. Also, if you're really stuck up about what's in your comedy, then you may not like this movie. If you're up for it, you'll die laughing.

The special features on the DVD are worth it if for no other reason than to get the full song performances. That makes the DVD a must have for big times fans of this movie even if you saw it 50 times on cable. LOL

I've read the reviews of those here at Amazon that disliked this film. After discounting those who were offended that someone dared poke fun at Walk the Line, I was left with a small handful of reviewers that just didn't like the film. That's fine. No matter what the movie, there will be some that fail to see the appeal. Even Citizen Kane and Casablanca - the two films that top virtually every critc's list as the best ever made - have their detractors.

Well, "Walk Hard" doesn't aspire to be Casablanca. You have to accept a movie for what it is and decide if it succeeds at being what it was designed to be. You can't hold "Airplane" to the same critical standards as "Gone With The Wind," for example.

"Walk Hard" wants to be a broad parody in the "mockumentary" style made famous by Christopher Guest. On that level (and several others) it succeeds mightily. The songs all but carry the film and anyone that thinks writing song parodies is easy has never really tried. It's very hard work to not only copy a genre and style, but to do it while not directly stealing from the original artists, writing clever lyrics, and still finding a way to make the music instantly recognizable. The people that contributed the music to this film are well-respected artists and in some cases are writing parodies of their own musical stylings. T-Bone Burnett is one of the most skilled and sought after producers and writers of the past 30 years and the line of people waiting for a chance to work with him is long indeed. After working with Roy Orbison on one of the finest concert videos ever created (Roy Orbison and Friends, I believe is the title) Mr. Burnett is uniquely qualified to lampoon the early rock classics and he provides "Walk Hard" with several songs that can only be described as genius.

The film also succeeds in slicing up numerous film techniques as well. One example is early in the film. As Amazon's product review reveals, Dewey's more talented brother dies to set the stage for the rest of the picture. Prior to his demise, virtually everything the brother says is a satire of the technique known as "foreshadowing" in which the script or director inserts something that hints about coming events. Dewey's brother is constantly saying things like, "there's nothing I won't do with this long, long, life of mine." Of course, within moments, he's toast.

In order for parody to work, there has to be something in the original work worthy of ridicule. Have you ever noticed how in movie musicals people just seem to write songs in a matter of moments or how total strangers can suddenly sing together in perfect harmony? "Walk Hard" contains a brilliant scene in a recording studio (in itself a parody of the famous Sun Studios) where Dewey and three men he's never seen before record his first smash hit in one take. Watch the expressions of the other musicians when they are suddenly able to sing along and harmonize together despite having no sheet music or lyric sheets in front of them. It's priceless!

My wife and I have watched this film at least a half-dozen times since purchasing the DVD months ago. After seeing the list of special features offered on the Blu Ray, we're taking advantage of an Amazon sale to upgrade our copy of the film. We are NOT fans of Judd Apatow. We're a middle-aged couple and well above the age of his usual demographic. We couldn't stand "Knocked Up" or most of the other garbage that passes for intelligent comedy nowadays. But somehow all the elements came together with "Walk Hard" and we would rate it and "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" as easily the funniest films to be released in the past 15-20 years. I would give this film 6 stars if Amazon would allow for it. Grab this movie! It is indeed a "Beautiful Ride."

Walk Hard gets funnier every time I watch it, and for that I will always be happy I own it myself. My wife and I enjoy it at least once a month and it is wickedly ridiculous.

However, what sets the Blue-Ray apart is the phenomenal special features that range from insane to hilarious to interesting. I highly recommend the BD over the standard edition and recommend the movie to anyone who can see the brilliance in ridiculous satire.