Pick of the Week: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - 2007

The road for any music legend is a long and rocky one. There are ups and downs both in career and personal life. Temptations of women and drugs conflicting with the burdens of fame. This is all chronicled in the fictional and satirical story of Dewey Cox, as he embodies the rock star persona in the most ridiculous and hilarious way.

John C. Reilly ("Boogie Nights," "Step Brothers") stars as Dewey Cox, and yes, many subtle jokes are made about his last name. At a young age, Dewey is involved in a terrible accident that results in his brother's death. Using music as an outlet, Dewey leaves home as a teenager to pursue a career in music. With a growing family, Dewey soon becomes a big star with a slew of number one hits. Troubles of life on the road lead him down a self-destructive path of drugs and infidelity, straining his friendships, family life and his inner-demons.

Okay, that paragraph really made this sound like a serious movie, but in no way is it serious. The film serves strongly as a parody to the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line,"as well as the Ray Charles biopic, "Ray." Both are fantastic, Oscar-winning films, and you absolutely must see them both before watching "Walk Hard," otherwise you won't get most of the jokes and references. John C. Reilly does his own singing in the film, which audiences know he's capable of, as proved by his Oscar nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2003's adaptation of hit Broadway musical "Chicago." I also just realized that Reilly received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for "Walk Hard," which is a bit surprising.

The film was co-written by Judd Apatow, whose helped bring about nearly every hit comedy in the last five years or so, including "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Knocked Up," "Pineapple Express" and nearly every great Will Ferrel movie. There are countless cameos in the film by "Saturday Night Live" cast members and alumni (most notably Kristen Wiig as Dewey's wife and Tim Meadows as his drummer), and several actors from hit series "The Office" (Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam, is Dewey's backup singer and love interest). Musicians and musical styles parodied in the film include Elvis Presley (played by Jack White of the White Stripes), Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, The Big Bopper, The Beatles (definitely the funniest scene of the movie, as it features comic greats Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Jason Schwartzman and Justin Long), and of course, Johnny Cash and Ray Charles.

I will say that this film is sometimes stupid, but it's always clever and funny. It's one of the few movies I've seen multiple times and can still laugh out loud when watching it by myself. It's worth it for a great laugh, but beware the director's cut, which clocks it at just over two hours. Oh, and if you have a problem with seeing a man's penis (more than once), then be careful. You've been warned.



-Brendan