|
|
|
||
  
Back
Shelf Beauties |
Walk
Hard: Spoofing all of
those musical bio pics we have had the last few years, John C. Reilly
stars as
Dewey Cox – a famous singer/songwriter who has lived a
tortured life (how else
can he come up with those songs?).
In
the movie, we look back with Dewey and see the tragedies that befell
him, the
drug addiction that cost him everything and his one, last attempt to
write a
song that encompasses his entire life experience. Co-written by
Judd Apatow and director by Jake Kasdan, Walk
Hard tries to shock us and settles
for the cheap laugh instead of developing the story and characters. It’s almost like
Apatow and Kasdan had a few
scenes they thought would be hilarious on screen, then tried to build a
movie
around them. When focused on
the parody, Walk
Hard has some great
laughs and smart jokes, including Dewey’s
song inspirations, his making-it-to-the-big-time montage, the
relationship with
his parents and more that bring to mind movies like Walk The Line
and Ray. Apatow
and Kasdan even reach deep into the memory banks to
sneak in a sly
parody of the infamous D.A. Pennebaker documentary about Bob Dylan, a
Brian
Wilson riff and maybe other stuff I missed.
However, Kasdan and Apatow abandon most of that to
go for quick giggles
that will appeal to teenage boys only.
The dialogue is not as sharp as it should be, and
Kasdan needs to pick
up the pacing to make the movie funnier instead of dragging along. The cameos are a
welcome highlight, even though The Beatles one goes a bit too long, but
most of
the movie is over-reliant on Reilly acting dumb, and Walk
Hard needs more than
that. Reilly is a
great actor who has
proven his comic abilities in Talladega Nights
and A Prairie Home Companion,
but Kasdan and Apatow have created a role just about any actor could
walk
into. Walk
Hard has some
big laughs, and Kasdan does a funny job telegraphing some predictable
jokes,
but it should be so much better. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language
|
