Movie Review - 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Starring John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer and Tim Meadows
Directed by Jake Kasdan
Rated R

Throwing absolutely everything at the wall and hoping a fraction of it sticks, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is an unpolished comedy that just never stops trying to get a laugh any way it can.

There’s a lot to be said for that, too, incidentally. Because Walk Hard has more than its share of scenes that just don’t go anywhere, but more often than not, there’s a scene with something so ridiculous on at least on side of it that makes you nearly howl.

Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly, who all the ads point out is an Oscar nominee, tongue planted firmly in cheek) is a hardscrabble troubadour whose song, Walk Hard made him one of the most popular singers in the early days of rock and roll. But it wasn’t always easy for Dewey. In the same way young Johnny Cash witnesses the brutal death of his brother in Walk the Line, Dewey was there for an unsightly family tragedy at a tender age. It shaped him, molded him, and made him the man he would become: A violent philanderer, adulterer, drug addict and absentee father to over 30 children.

The tragedy also ties Dewey to another other legendary performer, Ray Charles. Whereas Charles lost his sight as a boy, Dewey had to overcome losing his sense of smell. Tragic.

Director and co-writer Jake Kasdan (who assembled the script with Judd Apatow) comes from a filmmaking family, but there’s nothing in the work of his dad, Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan, that would indicate the kind of go-for-broke comedy in Walk Hard.

Most of the songs are worth taking time out of the story for, the double entendre with the name Cox never gets old, suspiciously enough, and Walk Hard has just enough cameos and inside jokes to make this spoof of musical biopics almost as good as some of the real ones. Certainly, it’s at least as entertaining.

The cast is rounded out by SNL alums Tim Meadows and Chris Parnell as members of Dewey’s band, Jenna Fischer from The Office as the loving wife and Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Jason Schwartzman and Justin Long as The Beatles. That’s a scene worth seeing.

I wasn’t sure heading into this one if I thought playing Dewey Cox was a desperate move for Reilly. For years, he was best known for his dramatic work in films like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Chicago, The Hours, and Gangs of New York. Lately, thanks to Talladega Nights, it looked as if he might be able to bridge both worlds. This puts him squarely in the comedy realm, although it just didn’t seem natural for him to take a splashy leading role like this.

I shouldn’t have worried. He’s great. He’s funny. He’s Dewey By God Cox.

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