I rented this one because a) Dewey Cox is played by John C Reilly, an actor I really enjoy and b) Judd Apatow was involved with the script. Old Judd has been on something of a career high lately, cranking out pretty damn hilarious comedies one after the other like he sprinkles crystal meth on his cornflakes or something.
Think 40 Year Old Virgin, SuperBad, Knocked Up... and you're getting a picture of what Judd can do when the crack is flowing.... Kidding! Seriously, old Judd's probably just a really talented guy who can just shove out great comedies like some of us move our bowels.
Look, I love Judd Apatow movies OK? I'm no snob or anything. LOVE them. So I wanted to see Walk Hard, and I also felt like a good laugh because just lately life has really sucked the big one. Lucky for me, Walk Hard was a pretty good little lift for Friday night.
First off, it's a spoof of Walk the Line. For those of you who live in a deep, dark hole and don't know this, Walk the Line was the totally awesome biopic of Johnny Cash that came out a couple of years ago. It got nominated for a few Oscars and even won one or two (Reese Witherspoon got one for Best Supporting Actress, unless I'm sorely mistaken).
So Walk Hard is a spoof of that (which is why they both have 'Walk' in the title, see?). I suppose Judd and the boys felt it was a little too serious and needed to be spoofed. I dunno... whatever. Judd has his reasons, OK? Give the guy a break...
Basically, Walk Hard loosely follows the story of Walk the Line, except this time Reese is replaced by Jenna Fischer (the hot number from The Office) and Dewey/Johnny's old man is played by Raymond J Barry. I could have sworn it was Roddy McDowell but I was dead wrong (cos Roddy's dead, get it?).
The plot follows Dewey as he goes from being a hick kid until he's an old hick dude with about a dozen kids and a successful recording career. If you've seen Walk the Line, you'll have a pretty good idea of how the story unfolds.
But the plot really isn't important here. What rocks about Walk Hard is John C Reilly, who is one funny mofo. (Don't believe me? check out Boogie Nights and Talladega Nights. Hey, both those flicks have Nights in the title, weird!).
Reilly has a funny face, OK? He's a funny lookin' fella. And that helps a LOT when you're trying to be funny. Apart from that, they do these amazing things with his hair. It's really impressive. Plus John gets to dress up in some really ridiculous outfits. So it just works. Some of the gags in the movie are lame, but there's a pretty hilarious thread about drug use running throughout the flick and that comes along regularly, just when things are getting tired, to liven up proceedings.
The section about the 60s and LSD is particularly good, with nice little cameos from Judd's regular crew (Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Mooj from 40 Year Old Virgin, etc). You can't deny it. Drugs are funny. Especially in the 60s and 70s, when they were friggin hilarious.
The music in Walk Hard is also great, so that's a bonus. All in all, if you dig Walk the Line, or enjoy rock biopics in general, you can't help but like Walk Hard. It rips the ass out of musos who can't function without getting loaded and it's done with real style and class. It ain't Spinal Tap, but it's a pretty good substitute if you can't get a copy of ST on short notice.
Verdict: Well worth a rent!
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