From Stacie Hougland: There’s a sequence in the beginning of the music mockumentary Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story so jaw-droppingly, inappropriately hysterical, I had to pause it while howling like a lunatic or I’d have missed the next scene. Although the film can’t (and doesn’t) keep that pace up throughout, it’s my pick for DVD of the Week for the brilliant first half alone.
John C. Reilly nails the role of Dewey Cox (insert requisite dirty jokes here), a Johnny Cash-alike spurred to musical success by a terrible childhood tragedy. He leaves home as a teenager—yes, Reilly as a teenager (“I think I’m doin’ pretty good being 15 with a wife and baby!” hollers Reilly to his nag of a 14-year old wife, played by Kristin Wiig). Success comes with his song “Walk Hard,” and we see Dewey go from bug-eyed rock n’ roll innocent to tortured soul with a drug habit and penchant for the ladies. Tim Meadows kills as Dewey’s drummer, whose running gag entails ineffectively keeping Dewey away from illicit substances (“It makes all the bad times better! You don’t want any of this ****!”) In fact, the film is jam-packed with running gags and double-entendres, the most obvious yet still snicker-worthy being the song Dewey performs with his new love Darlene (The Office’s Jenna Fischer), the raunchy-but-not “Let’s Duet” (“In my dreams you’re blowing me…some kisses...”).
Working best when it sends up music biopic clichés, the film falters about midway through when Dewey’s gone completely off the deep end in the ‘70s only to discover sobriety and love of family. If you’re looking for fall-down laughs a la Judd Apatow’s previous films, this isn’t it. That said, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is still a must-see for Reilly’s terrific performance and some gags and lines so funny you’ll cry.
Extras: The two-disc unrated widescreen version offers up the theatrical release and American Cox: The Unbearably Long, Self-Indulgent Director’s Cut, some 25 minutes more Cox than you need unless you’re a diehard Apatow fan. Like the DVDs for Superbad and Knocked Up, this one has features galore, many done in Apatow’s signature tongue-in-cheek style. Along with nine deleted scenes, there are extras like the “Cox Sausage” ad, which you might remember from the trailer (it's not in the film) and “A Christmas Song from Dewey Cox.” There’s also the making-of the music, full song performances, commentary, and a mock-doc with The Daily Show’s John Hodgman called “The Last Word,” in which real-life stars like Jewel and Sheryl Crow give interviews about Dewey and his influence on their work.
Overview: Walk Hard’s laughs come fast and furious to start and the pic features excellent performances despite being unevenly funny.
Seen it? Weigh in.
