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Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

A funny fake music biopic, even if you don't giggle at the name 'Cox'

By Matt Pais

Metromix
December 21, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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Years after accidentally slicing his brother in half, Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) aims to make good on his promise to be "double-great" and become a world-famous musician—despite his seemingly irrelevant lack of a sense of smell. Along the way he fathers several children with a wife (Kristen Wiig) he quickly abandons for a June Carter-esque backup singer (Jenna Fischer), sinks into the standard cycle of drugs and rehab, and works to earn the respect of his father, who's forever convinced that "the wrong kid died."

Big question: Is the presence of Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up"), who co-wrote the script with director Jake Kasdan, enough to justify a movie that seems to exclusively parody "Walk the Line" and "Ray"?

Catch it: Dewey's hilariously oblivious in his blind pursuit of his impulses. "Walk Hard" is neither mean with its parodies nor looking to accomplish much beyond them, but it's clever about the music industry's erratic nature—and a movie you can simply walk out of, say "That was really funny," and go back to your day.

Skip it: If you're embarrassed by songs full of sexual innuendo. Dewey's more than happy to sing about how much he wants to beat off ... his demons.

Bottom line: About a quarter of the gags fall flat, but the movie's primary, inspired joke is the incredible lack of subtlety in most musical biopics. The punchline is that "Walk Hard" is just as good, if not better, than a lot of them.

Bonus: Dewey learns a lot of lessons that everyone should keep in mind: Finishing the milk is not as bad as cheating on your spouse; kids playing with machetes is a bad idea; and being famous does not mean you can get married to two people at the same time!

mpais@tribune.com