by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
Grade: B+
Nominated for two Golden Globes (Best Actor-Comedy and Best Original Song), Walk Hard has been buzzed about, good, bad and ugly, for months. Thanks to a marketing blitzkrieg that's made smaller budget films wet their shorts and hide in a corner, there most likely isn't a single person on the planet who hasn't heard of Dewey Cox by now. Been living in a cave? Here's the lowdown.
After the death of his older, more talented brother during a tragic machete-fighting incident, Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) is the family pariah, hearing his father's sneering "The wrong kid died," in one ear and his brothers last words, "You've got to be double great for the both of us," in the other. Soon, Cox discovers he's got a natural flair for the guitar and realizes it's his music that will repair his relationship with his father and make his brother up in heaven proud. At the tender age of 14 a school talent show begins his career. The crowd goes wild over Dewey's music, so much so blouses are ripped off, priests are punched in the face and the townspeople lynch the Cox family home. Dewey is forced to leave town, taking with him Edith (Kristen Wiig), an adoring fan who quickly becomes Mrs. Dewey Cox. A couple years, and many, many children later, Dewey gets his big break with his infectious ditty "Walk Hard." And so begins a wild roller coaster ride that takes Dewey Cox to the top of the charts, all the way down to jail and rehab, back up to the top of the charts and then back to jail and rehab. Somewhere in between drug addictions and orgies he meets Darlene (Jenna Fischer), a saintly backup singer who quickly becomes the second Mrs. Dewey Cox (much to a still very devoted Edith's dismay). Of course, true love doesn't slay all of Dewey's demons, and the troubled musician struggles to do right by his family throughout the decades, reinventing himself and his music every step of the way.
Walk Hard got a lot of flack from the get go for following too closely the life of the late Johnny Cash. Many people thought, and still think, that the film mocks this legendary musician's career and personal life. One could certainly see it that way. But the intention was not to trivialize someone's life but to spoof the music biopic genre. Everyone has seen movies like Ray, Walk the Line and Great Balls of Fire!, and, while these films are undeniably fascinating, they all have elements that writers Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan found amusing. The two got together and penned this film, not to be mean-spirited about the struggles Cash or Ray Charles went through in real life, but to send up a genre of film that hasn't changed its formula since its creation.
Walk Hard is more Talladega Nights than Knocked Up. It's funny, but most likely only the first time around and even then it's spotty. You'll giggle a lot, but big belly laughs are few and far between. Much of the humor is, well, stupid. The gags are silly and ridiculous and simple and that's okay. This is a film that doesn't, and certainly shouldn't, take itself too seriously. They go for the easy laugh every time and it works because anything less and it steps over the line into the insulting-the-musical-legend territory people have been so worried about since the film was announced. Walk Hard is so consciously goofy it's hard to believe anyone would walk away upset or offended, at least by the story anyway. Obviously this being a film with Apatow's name attached, expect the usual R-rated fair. Naturally like any good story of superstardom, Cox is all about sex, drugs and rock and roll. People, this means leave your children at home. A six-year-old does not need to learn the words to songs like "Lets Duet" ("In my dreams you're blowin' me" -long beat- "some kisses").
Speaking of the music, every song in the soundtrack is incredibly catchy. You'll be humming, as I have been for two days now, the Golden Globe shoe-in title track from the moment you leave the theater. Each tune is performed remarkably well and mimics each phase of Dewey's career perfectly. In fact, were it not for the goofy lyrics, one would have a hard time distinguishing them from other songs of the era. While the film itself has little rewatchability, the soundtrack is worth owning.
Reilly, who has always played second banana to one clown or another, carries this film and does an amazing job, good enough to get the Globe nod. Along with his impeccable comedic timing, he's got a terrific voice and it's really showcased here. Fischer, who's known for being more buttoned up and conservative on The Office, taps into her sexuality in Walk Hard and is wonderful. Familiar faces like Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Jason Schwartzman, Justin Long, Jack White and Frankie Muniz all make appearances as some of music's most iconic characters and musicians Eddie Vedder, Jewel, Ghostface Killah, and Lyle Lovett all show up as themselves at one point or another. These cameos were really many of the film's best moments. The scene with the Beatles is downright hysterical and White's brief but brilliant Elvis is a real treat.
It's definitely not for everyone, but Walk Hard is an amusing nod to the music biopic that elicits enough laughs to make it worth your time. The performances are great, but it's the incredible score that will win most people over.
|
