A solid, albeit a little weary, addition to the Apatow comedy canon

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2007)

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story chronicles the rise and fall of fictional singer Dewey Cox's (John C. Reilly), showcasing the changes in his music as each decade passes, and the struggles he faces as a musician.
Just when we figured we had enough of the typical singer bio-pic, co-writer/producer/comedy golden boy Judd Apatow has delivered yet another one, albeit his first real straight on parody since he first struck gold with The 40-Year-Old Virgin. There was obviously plenty to mine here, and just the brief synopsis should evoke memories of recent Oscar-winners Walk the Line and Ray. And while a lot of the moments that pass do allow for the filmmakers to take grand shots at these two films, it also allows for plenty of satire on the state of music through the various decades, from the rise of rock and roll in the 1950's, to the hippie peace movement in the 1960's and beyond. Also added to the mix are quite a few cameos by actors playing famous musicians of the time including Frankie Muniz as Buddy Holly and Jack White as the King himself, Elvis Presley (and an absolutely laugh out loud sequence featuring The Beatles).
But in packing in a lot of this material from sources that were already too bogged down in the first place, Apatow and co-writer/director Jake Kasdan have bogged themselves down to. For a movie that is under one hundred minutes, it drags a bit too much for its own good. Some sequences run endlessly long, and some just pass by with ease. I do not want to say, or incur, that I was bored at all by one of the best (if not the best) parody films in a long time (especially if I have such tripe as Meet the Spartans to look forward to in the future), it just dragged itself along too much. I understand the effect the Kasdan and Apatow were going for, but I think they could have limited themselves a little bit more. What does not help even more so is knowing that many of the trailer's scenes are cut right out of the movie, suggesting an even longer Unrated DVD (along the lines of the way too long Virgin DVD). There just does not seem to be a middle ground in the area of pacing throughout the film, and it tarnishes the film as a result.
The actual material itself is fairly hysterical. There are plenty of laughs to be found at any given turn here, and many laugh out loud moments to go with them. Just watching these actors delivering their lines in purely serious ways, especially during the some of the film's most ridiculous moments (ironically, moments that fall very close to those found in Line or Ray), is just too much to not be able to laugh at. All of these actors seem very at home with the material, and look like they are having a lot of fun with their characters. This also seems to be one of the closest followed scripts of the past few Apatow films, and rarely does it appear that the characters are improvising (or they have just really improved from their consistent ad-libbing). The sets, backgrounds and costume designs, evoking the specific periods, are just as funny, if not more. There is a grand sense of authenticity at work here, and anyone watching the movie can pick out specific ties to their own memories (real or imagined) of those eras. Of course, there are a few too many nods to current fashion trends, but it stays very keenly in the area of that specific era depicted during that point in the film.
Reilly as Cox is a marvel in the lead role. He brings his more refined dramatic style to the role, and I think it helps lend a certain aura of credibility to the performance. It is just as serious and realistic as Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, and only a few steps below the mastery of Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, and Dewey Cox is not even a real person. He really makes this character his own, and when he is not being downright hilarious, without even breaking a grin, he is being heartbreakingly hysterical. It is a mixed bag, but Reilly makes it work, and he makes it work very well. His performance as the actor is only topped by his performance as the singer. He leads songs brilliantly at every point in the film, and even though the subtext of most of them is a bit risqué, they are still wonderfully written songs sung by someone with a great voice. If this role does not spring board Reilly into more leading actor work, it just may give him the needed boost to be a singer (or at least, to do more musicals or head to Broadway).
The supporting cast, although not nearly as funny as Reilly, all lend a hand in making Walk Hard a very funny movie. From Kristen Wiig and Jenna Fischer as Cox's wives, to Tim Meadows, Chris Parnell, and Matt Besser as his band mates, to Raymond J. Barry as his father, everyone manages to steal a scene for themselves, and manages to deliver some solid laughs. Yes, there are quite a few flat jokes that are given by the supporters much more often than Reilly as the lead, but for the most part, they do a great job backing him up. It also helps that it seems like everyone has some sort of minuscule amount of chemistry with Reilly, allowing their jokes to fly very easily.
Despite its faults, Walk Hard is a solid addition to the growing canon of Apatow comedies, and is one hell of a funny parody. Reilly was the best man for this role, and I am happy to say that he makes the film more than just watchable.
7.5/10.