Cox rocks and Apatow’s streak continues in this spot-on biopic parody.
Haven’t heard of Dewey Cox? Well where have you been? He’s only been a rock n’ roll legend for the past five decades, from the early days of blues-driven rock to 60’s psychedelia to folk rock and, of course, who could forget his big comeback special?? Cox is even hitting the road again for his “Cox Across America” tour. Get with the program, man!
After the death of his talented brother in a tragic machete-fighting incident, Dewey (John C. Reilly) was left with his brother’s final words - “Dewey, you've got to be double great for the both of us,” - which inspired the young Cox to sing the blues and sharpen his own musical chops. At only 14 (but somehow looking at least 40), Dewey broke out at a high school talent show playing a few groovin’ rock tunes that really got the kids 
going. It was there he met his first wife Edith (Kristen Wiig), hitting the road with his group and never looking back. Over the years, Dewey created and followed all the biggest musical trends. His marriage to Edith would eventually dissolve when he became simultaneously married to backup singer Darlene (Jenna Fischer). From the 70’s on, Dewey’s career hit a lull at the hands of drug addiction and decreased musical output. But now Cox is back and that is the subject of the new film by Judd Apatow entitled Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story.
Inspired by the likes of This is Spinal Tap and The Rutles: All You Need is Cash, Walk Hard is the creation of co-writer Judd Apatow and co-writer/director Jake Kasdan. Taking musical biopics like Ray and Walk the Line as a jump off point, Kasdan and Apatow use Dewey Cox to poke fun at just about every convention of biopic films and musical trend of the past five decades.
John C. Reilly finally gets the chance to be funny in a film he’s headlining. Fans of the Ferrell world or the web site Funnyordie.com have probably already witnessed Reilly’s knack for comedic timing, but for the mainstream, the majority of his better-known work on the big screen has been more serious in nature. Until now…
And 
Reilly completely owns the role of rocker Dewey Cox – the swagger, the rump shake and, of course, the voice. He already proved his musical chops in Chicago, but as Dewey Cox he exhibits even greater range. Although the movie is intended to be a parody, Reilly’s singing is still highly credible. The music itself, were it not for the silly lyrics (“In my dreams I’m blowing you… (long pause) …kisses.”), would be nearly indistinguishable from the genre classics they are aping.
During the course of Walk Hard, just about every musical legend is taken to task, from Elvis (played by Jack White) to The Beatles. In one of the movie’s best scenes, Cox hangs with the Fab Four in India where they introduce Cox to LSD. Jack Black plays Paul, Paul Rudd is John, Jason Schwartzman is Ringo and Justin Long is George Harrison – intentionally the worst casting of The Beatles ever. Music aficionados will also notice more subtle jabs at everyone from Johnny Cash to Brian Wilson.
Jenna Fischer is great as allegedly innocent, sexually charged Darlene. Fischer finally gets the chance to abandon her frumpy look from The Office and show how sexy that girl-next-door look can be. Straight man Tim Meadows has some of the film’s funniest moments as Cox’s weed-toting drummer and Raymond J. Barry continuously gets laughs as Pa Cox, even though all he does for the most part of the movie is repeat the same line over and over (you’ll understand later).
Judd Apatow finishes off quite an impressive 2007. Serving as writer/director on Knocked Up, producer on Superbad and now co-writer on Walk Hard, he can officially be declared the reigning king of comedy. With four more productions slated for 2008, Apatow is looking pretty unstoppable in the foreseeable future.
While Walk Hard falls short of being a comedy masterpiece, it definitely ranks as one of the best parody movies in years, a fitting tribute to the likes of the Zucker Brothers and John Landis. As completely ridiculous as much of the movie is, it has just the right mix of spoofs and utterly random comedy (such as a guy who shows up at various points of the movie naked for no particular reason) that even non-music aficionados should have a good time.
ReelzChannel Rating: 