"Walk Hard" should jog on - 42%

Rating: 4/10 (6 October 2009)

I can't exactly remember why I bought this DVD many months ago. I think I may have been taken in by the trailer or noticed that this was the product of the same man behind "Superbad", Judd Apatow. I do remember thinking how good it was that one of the most overlooked men in Hollywood, John C Reilly, finally had the lead in his own movie. Sadly, there was one thing I had forgotten. What exactly is the point in watching a movie spoofing the likes of "Walk The Line" if you haven't yet seen "Walk The Line"? However I suspect that even if I had, it would only have been slightly funnier. It felt too bizarre and contrite to be properly funny, despite Reilly's cracking performance.
Reilly plays music legend Dewey Cox whose songs strike a chord with America in the early days of rock and roll. Cast out by his disapproving father (Raymond J Barry), Dewey finds himself on the road touring with his band and succumbing to a variety of temptations - drink, drugs and women all lead Dewey away from success on a road to Hell whilst his accidental murder of his brother Nate (Chip Hormess) continues to pray on Dewey's fragile state of mind. But through it all, his on-off relationship with backing singer Darlene (Jenna Fischer) is Dewey's best hope of tasting success once again.
Reilly pretty much saves this movie from being a complete wash-out. He is loving every minute of "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", stretching each cliché to breaking point and gaining maximum comic potential from each scene. Sadly, the film's humour is far too scatter-gun in nature to be consistently funny - a few scenes raise a faint titter but by and large, this was pretty disappointing. Most rock & roll stories are, by their very nature, excessive so no matter what lunacy happens on screen (pet giraffes, shooting acid with the Beatles, 22 kids and 14 step-kids and more besides), it's simply too ludicrous to be funny. Reilly is also pretty much on his own among the cast as well - Jack Black and Paul Rudd's cameos as Lennon & McCartney were genuinely funny as was Tim Meadows as Dewey's drug pushing band-mate Sam but everyone else overacts or is pretty unmemorable. Speaking of cameos, there are a wealth of famous faces in there but none of them are funny (other than those I've mentioned) and the last time I checked, this was supposed to be a comedy.
I'm almost annoyed that "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" is such a waste of promising material and talent. It never seems to get beyond first gear, trundling along and minding its own business while this viewer waited for the mercifully short duration to go by. I did want to enjoy this but I simply couldn't - it's not funny enough and like other dreadful "spoofs" being released lately ("Dance Flick" and the like), it feels too niche to appeal to most viewers. Perhaps if you've seen "Walk The Line" or "Ray" then maybe you'll see the funny side but if, like me, you haven't then I recommend looking elsewhere for a good old giggle.