March 21, 2009: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Here we are solidly back into Judd Apatow territory here, with him on board as a producer (not directing – I’m looking forward to Funny People when it gets released this summer, his first directing effort since Knocked Up). Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story stars perennial second banana John C. Reilly as an amalgam of Johnny Cash and Brian Wilson and various other musical stars, in a film which doubles as both a parody of rock and country music stars and their actions over the decades, as well as a knowing nod to the recent spate of biopics and fictional films on the topic (Walk the Line, Ray, Dreamgirls, etc). The emotionally solid core of basically decent guys living their lives, as we see in the more directly Apatow-influenced movies, is eschewed here for sheer absurdist comedy from start to finish.
If I may quote myself, from an earlier review in which Walk Hard was mentioned, I felt that it was “wildly uneven but had moments of inspired hilarity”. After this second viewing of the film, I think it does live up to a claim of being worthwhile to watch, despite some dragging bits (I’ve only seen the director’s cut – the theatrical cut is probably much tighter and may indeed be better). It’s certainly not to everyone’s taste, but the ridiculous is favoured over the crude, as long as a little machete-fighting doesn’t turn your stomach and you have no issues with male full-frontal nudity being played for laughs. Moments of gut-busting hilarity are sprinkled throughout, and simple though it is, the story does try to make a point in the end.
John C. Reilly does his own singing here, and I think he does a great job capturing all the genres he plows through. Several of the songs in the soundtrack are really catchy, and I keep returning to them over and over again, while some of the tunes are more one-off novelties, for example the direct ripoffs of unlistenable Brian Wilson tunes or 1970s funk stuff that really doesn’t do it for me. Reilly has proven his singing talent previously in the musical Best Picture winner Chicago.
Cinematography by Dante Spinotti brings the vivid colours of the 1950s through the 1970s to life, with compositions a notch above the what you’d normally see in a goofy mid-budget comedy. I really like how this genre has come to be more respected in the filmmaking craft, with heavier-duty directors, cinematographers and other such crew bringing greater cinematic heft to these movies.
If you’re interested in music from decades past and can see the inherent humour in it, or if you believe that the recent music biopics need some skewering but don’t want to let the Wayans brothers handle it, then Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is for you.
Ridiculous, absurd, goofy. I love it!
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