Epic Satire Succeeds As Comedy, Drama, and Rock History Lesson

Rating: 9/10 (1 October 2010)

I've never been a fan of the gross-out comedies of Apatow and Kasdan. But I've admired John C. Reilly as a character actor ever since he was a small-town teenager in WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE. And I'm a huge student of classic rock, having listened since the mid Seventies and also having read many books on the subject.
I thought WALK HARD might have a few cheap laughs about groupies and sex. What I discovered was that it is a triumph on every level. It is a comedy funnier than anything this side of THE BIG LEBOWSKI or YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. It is a country-boy makes good drama as moving and sincere as FORREST GUMP or SERGEANT YORK. And it provides an epic history of rock and roll from rockabilly to the disco era that really has no equal in any other film.
The cast of this movie is incredible. Not only is John C. Reilly performing on a Tom Hanks level as sincere, gifted, yet goofy Dewey Cox, he receives incredible support in every scene. Jenna Fischer plays the love of his life and she's every bit as stunning and compelling as Reese Witherspoon in WALK THE LINE (even though she looks more like Sarah Michelle Gellar.) Even the two little boys in the hilariously tragic "prologue" are believably innocent and carefree as they begin that tragic game of machete tag.
The humor in this movie goes far beyond the sex jokes, the blatant rip offs of rock decadence, and the imitations of famous scenes in WALK THE LINE and RAY. A lot of the humor is very subtle, like the "serious" way stars like Eddie Vedder pay tribute to Dewey's simplistic lyrics. "When Dewey Cox said he wanted to walk hard, he made us think about how we wanted to walk." In the same way, the Beatles impressions are funny, yet you really have to know rock history well to understand the Brian Wilson references as egocentric Dewey screams for "50,000 djiridous" to complete his unfinished symphony. The same with the Bob Dylan period. Dewey Cox handles reporters in a way both rebellious and shallow, which brilliantly skewers the self-importance of Dylan himself in DON'T LOOK BACK, and the phony reverence of unwatchable tributes like I'M NOT THERE. ("What do my parents think of my protest songs? What do your parents think of my protest songs, Mr. Time Magazine?") But the most indescribable power of this movie comes from the fact that it is always character based. The machete accident at the beginning seems like a silly joke, but when a talking machete literally walks into Dewey's acid trip you can't help falling down with laughter, even as you recognize that something very profound is going on. The movie laughs at the basic premise of all biopics, that knowing a man's personal tragedy means you understand his work -- and yet they brilliantly weave that tragedy into all his work.
WALK HARD also mocks a lot of the feel-good premises of self-help therapy,that forgiveness is key and acceptance brings renewal. During the final montage, where Dewey sings "It's A Beautiful Ride" and reflects on all the happy and sad memories of his life, there's a couple of shocking images that are both screamingly funny and touchingly sad. When you see Elvis Presley pull a switchblade on Dewey, or his father shove a pistol in his face, you see how funny it is to expect a man to put a "positive" spin on his own life. Dewey has memories he's not ever going to share with his fans, but that doesn't mean the happiness in the song is fake. It just makes the whole story more complex, more lifelike, and yes, more funny than anyone would ever have dreamed!
WALK HARD is a one of a kind movie. I am not only going to buy the DVD, I want to buy the soundtrack too!