Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Directed by Jake Kasdan
Starring John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Raymond J. Barry
Rated R
Release date: Dec. 21, 2007

The past couple film biopics that have been receiving much attention just because they are based on the life of beloved music artists (except for “Walk the Line,” which was the only film that I’ve seen where Reese Witherspoon was worth something) all seemed to be lacking something — originality. They were almost all of the same things: artist was once a nobody, they decide they love music, they started playing in front of people that didn’t like them but all the sudden they are liked; then they take drugs, their lives suck, and they want to make a comeback. Being that they were all true stories and they were all supposed to be taking seriously didn’t really help either.

But someone in the world knew better than to take those films seriously and has since created one of the funniest parodies since… well… the last Naked Gun film. After shit like The Comebacks, Date Movie, and that god-forsaken Epic Movie (which doesn’t even deserve to be in the same league as the previous two, as it should be in the same category with Dirty Sanchez and Deep Throat), I’m glad to announce that Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is just what I expected — a funny comedy that is dumber than the person that took your tickets. Just a bit of advice — never put the film next to The Golden Compass and think teenagers won’t sneak into it, because they will.

When Dewey Cox was 8-years-old (Connor Rayburn), he chopped his brother (Chip Homess) in half. Before his brother “died,” he told Dewey to be successful in every thing that he does. His mom (Margo Martindale) thinks that Dewey didn’t mean to do it, but his father (Raymond J. Barry) always said that the wrong kid died. This would go on until Dewey was fifteen. Dewey (now played by John C. Reilly) has since taken an interest in music and performs at his school’s talent show where he meets Edith (Kirsten Wiig). Everyone in the town considers Dewey’s music to be “the devil’s music,” and so they kick him out.

At age eighteen, Dewey and Edith have had four children. They have been living on their own and Dewey has been working as a janitor while a band of black men perform jazz songs. When the lead singer breaks all of his hands, Dewey is the replacement and people actually like them. With the help of Jewish talent scouts, L’Chai’m (Harold Ramis), Mazeltov (Phil Rosenthal), and Schmendrick (Martin Starr), Dewey gets a chance to record a song. He gathers up band members, including drummer Sam (Tim Meadows), and sing “Walk Hard.” It becomes an instant hit on radio-airwaves, and Dewey Cox and his band begin touring and recording songs.

And then Darlene Madison (Jenna Fischer), a Christian girl who is looking for a spot as a backup vocalist in the band, walks through the door. Dewey is instantly attracted to her, and they too decide to get married. But by this time, Edith already has about twenty kids (including an Asian kid who looks like if McLovin went to Oxford). They get married and Edith walks in on them having sex. After this, Dewey catches Tim using drugs. Tim warns him not to use them, but Dewey always tells him that he will use them. He gets addicted to every drug known to man, and goes in and out of rehab like Lindsay Lohan.

Walk Hard may just be the most accurate film that looks like an actual singer’s career. It begins with a rise, then the fall, then the comeback. Within the second-third of the film, you will be seeing yourself comparing the Dewey Cox character to Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Johnny Cash. It’s not only a spoof of biopics, but just the careers of music artists themselves. Hell, the film has perfect timing. After the events that have recently taken place with Britney Spears, it’s like she sat through the film and got mad at it.

Throughout the film, there are tons and tons of cameos. Harold Ramis, Martin Starr, Jonah Hill, Frankie Muniz, and Lyle Lovett are just a few of them. There is one scene when Dewey’s band travels to India with The Beatles, and they are just a few of the best cameos that I’ve seen in recent memory. Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Jason Schwartzman, and Justin Long (the same Justin Long that starred in the worst movie of 2007) do a perfectly hilarious job. You don’t know how much I laughed during that scene, especially when the two latter cameos just sat there and was like, “We’re not important, so it’s like that we don’t need to be a part of their conversation.”

There’s not a doubt in my mind that John C. Reilly has made a career-defining role in Walk Hard. Why does it work so great? Writers Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow allow Reilly to let him play Reilly, which is almost the same exact character that he played in Talladega Nights. But Reilly does a perfect job at Dewey Cox. He fits right in with the character. I expect to see more nominations for this guy within the next few weeks.

I had two problems with this film. The first one was the jokes. A lot of them were funny, but some of them were misses. They were either unfunny or just completely bland. The second problem that I had with the film is that there is a scene where in the upper right-hand corner, there is a big penis hanging down from the screen. I’m not homophobic, but it seems like they either put this here to be funny or just for it to be there for no reason. It turns out that Judd Apatow has a fear of penises, according to 2Snaps.tv. So what does that mean for us who watch his movies? We will be seeing a penis on-screen for each and every film that he directs and produces, so we have to watch it whenever the hell we watch his movies. Oh, and he’s releasing a “cockumentary” when this comes out on DVD.

Walk Hard is a funny movie, but it’s not totally perfect. But compared to the previous satire films, Walk Hardis the best film of this 2007, 2006, and 2005.

***½ out of ****